A positive start from the Blades in their 'Dream Team' mauve away kit.

Just a sense of uncertainty in some of Saints' frantic defending before Callum O'Hare saw a 20-yard blast deflected behind, but the corner comes to nothing.

Dan George
BBC Sport at St Mary's

Image source, BBC Sport

The rain is swirling around as the players come out from the tunnel at St Mary's.

This feels like an important game for two sides right next to each other in the league that will admit they have underperformed so far this season.

It is an especially important game here for Saints boss Tonda Eckert heading into the big derby match against Portsmouth on Sunday.

Southampton haven't won any of their past seven Championship games and will be desperate for some momentum going into the match at Fratton Park.

There was a brilliantly observed moment of applause before kick-off to honour England legend Martin Chivers, who was born in Southampton and played nearly 200 games for Saints before moving on to Tottenham.

The former England international forward passed away at the age of 80 on 7 January.

Away we go at Vicarage Road and St Mary's... what drama does the Championship have in store for us tonight?

The game at the Bet365 Stadium will follow in 15 minutes, of course...

Image source, Opta

Stoke make a double change from the side that drew to QPR on the weekend.

Tommy Simkin returns between the sticks as emergency keeper Gavin Bazunu, who was brought into cover injured number one stopper Viktor Johansson, is ruled out to put the total of first-team players in the recovery room up to nine.

Million Manhoef is back in the XI to replace Divin Mubama, who was on the receiving end of a tackle that damaged a ligament in his leg on Saturday.

Middlesbrough remain unchanged from their winning line-up from the weekend.

Image source, Opta

There won't be a massive amount to separate Stoke and Middlesbrough as we head into tonight's headline act.

Both teams need wins to get into their desired places. Stoke with a clear cut chance of re-entering the top six, while Boro aim to reclaim their second place spot from an Ipswich Town side roaring.

The visitors have the upper hand in their last 15 league meetings with seven wins to the Potters' three, but Boro haven't won back-to-back at the Bet365 since March 1956.

Stoke have rediscovered their form with a undefeated run of four games including a huge win over Coventry City in the FA Cup, but it was goalless on the weekend between them and QPR. Meanwhile, Boro have two successive league wins under their belt.

As for how it panned out earlier this season - a 0-0 draw that saw Middlesbrough excite in the first-half as Stoke came to life in the second.

A loss won't spell the end of either side's promotion ambitions but this is a chance to stamp some authority and to do that, they both need goals. Can this top-of-the-table clash deliver a tight-knit thriller?

Southampton v Sheffield United... feels like it should be a Premier League fixture, does it not?

Surprisingly (to me at least) since 1992 the Saints and Blades have only been in the Premier League at the same time in four separate seasons, most recently 2020-21.

As well as sharing your thoughts and predictions for tonight's name, feel free to click the shiny yellow button up on the top left of your screen and tell us what you think is the most Premier League fixture in the Championship this season?

Image source, Opta

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has made four changes from the Saints XI beaten 2-1 at home by Hull City on Saturday.

Jack Stephens returns to skipper the side and there are recalls for Welington, Elias Jelert and Ross Stewart, who scored off the bench last time out.

Nathan Wood, Ryan Manning, Josh Quarshie and Adam Armstrong drop to the bench.

Chris Wilder has made seven changes from the Blades side which went down 1-0 at Charlton.

Ki-Jana Hoever, Harrison Burrows, Ben Mee, Tyrese Campbell, Tahith Chong, Mark McGuinness and Sydie Peck all come in.

Patrick Bamford, Femi Seriki, Andre Brooks and Sam McCallum remain among the replacements while Tyler Binden misses out, holding midfielder Jairo Riedewald is out with a hamstring injury and Djibril Soumare and Japhet Tanganga start three game bans after their red cards at The Valley.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Shutterstock

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has urged his side to play with "more conviction" as Sheffield United head to St Mary's.

Saints have gone seven matches without a win in the league since a 3-2 victory over West Bromwich Albion on 9 December.

Saturday's defeat at home by Hull City left Eckert's side 16th and 10 points adrift of the Championship play-off places.

"There's only one way to shake it off - to go again and that's what we're going to do," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"I think we need more conviction from very deep inside.

"If you look at the data I think it's very clear [what is going wrong] but there is something fundamental to the game which comes from deep inside and that's what we need to put onto the pitch.

"We are all in the same boat together but it's not about pointing fingers. We have had some very honest conversations, importantly, and I think that's where we move forward as a group."

Image source, Shutterstock

After a first half of a season which has fallen dramatically below expectations, Southampton and Sheffield United will seek to get back to winning ways as they meet at St Mary's.

Among the pre-season favourites for promotion to the Premier League, newly-relegated Saints and play-off final losers Blades have been slugging it out in the bottom third of the Championship for most of this season, though the path to promotion remains open, with the play-offs not out of reach by any means.

Something will have to click soon, though, Saints went down 2-1 at home to Hull City on Saturday and are now 16th and winless in seven games, taking just three points and scoring five times in that run.

The inconsistent Blades have won three and lost three across their past six games and are one point and one place below their hosts after finishing with nine-men as they went down 1-0 at Charlton on Saturday.

Image source, Opta

Watford boss Javi Gracia has kept faith with the same XI which lost 2-0 at home to Millwall on Saturday.

Edo Kayembe returns to the bench for the first time since 13 December after AFCON duty with DR Congo and Rocco Vata is among the subs for the first time since November with a hamstring injury but Moussa Sissoko misses out altogether.

The Hornets have announced the signing of former Roma midfielder Edoardo Bove tonight, but the 23-year-old will take some time to get up to match fitness.

John Mousinho has made one change to the Pompey XI which won at Hillsborough on Saturday, and it's a big one for Blues fans.

Ebou Adams is handed his first start after arriving from Derby with news breaking that Conor Shaughnessy is set to miss 'months' after sustaining a serious muscle injury. More on that here.

New signing Keshi Anderson was not signed in time to play tonight.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Shutterstock

Portsmouth will seek to make their dip into the drop-zone a brief one when they head to Vicarage Road tonight.

Norwich's thumping win at West Brom saw Pompey slide into the bottom three on goal difference, but a point would be enough to leapfrog Blackburn back to safety.

John Mousinho's side ended a 10-match winless away run with a 1-0 success at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and will be aiming for back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

The Hornets are eighth, two points outside the play-off places with two games in hand, despite seeing a four-match winning streak ended by a 2-0 home defeat to Millwall on Saturday. It was the first time in 17 games in all competitions in which Javi Gracia's men failed to score.

Watford are unbeaten in their past eight midweek matches while Pompey have lost their past nine away games played in midweek, but who will shine brightest under the lights tonight?

Image source, Shuterstock

There were goals galore and plenty of drama in the second tier on Tuesday night, let's hope Wednesday night can follow suit.

• Charlton Athletic 1-2 Derby
• Coventry 2-1 Millwall
• Ipswich 2-0 Bristol City
• Oxford United 0-0 QPR
• Preston 0-3 Hull City
• Sheff Wed 0-2 Birmingham
• Swansea 3-1 Blackburn
• West Brom 0-5 Norwich
• Wrexham 1-1 Leicester

Image source, Opta/Getty Images

It is a big night for Portsmouth.

Pompey were knocked down into the bottom three after Norwich City romped West Bromwich Albion 5-0 last night but they can still escape the dreaded relegation zone with just a point.

Hosts Watford have their own opportunity to take though, with sixth place up for grabs thanks to Preston North End's loss to Hull. But even if they do claim all three points, they will need to hope Stoke City don't to take a play-off place.

The Potters face Middlesbrough, who have been chucked out of the top two by Ipswich Town and will be hungry to regain their automatic promotion spot.

All while Southampton and Sheffield United duke it out in the midtable in the hopes of salvaging play-off dreams of their own.

• Southampton v Sheff Utd
• Watford v Portsmouth
• Stoke v Middlesbrough (20:00 GMT)

Image source, Shutterstock

On this day, 105 years ago, Agatha Christie released her first novel featuring the mysteries of Hercule Poirot.

Fast forward to today and it's the Championship's turn to weave a plot twist and we've already had plenty of surprises from our midweek action.

West Bromwich Albion enduring a heavy home loss to Norwich City, Birmingham City dispelling their away day blues with a victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City dominating fellow play-off chasers Preston North End - Tuesday had plenty of tales to unravel.

But what will Wednesday entail?

Portsmouth play to claw back out the bottom three, while Watford, Stoke and Middlesbrough all have their eyes on the road to promotion. Plus a showdown between Southampton and Sheffield United that will see both sides hoping to keep their dimming play-off hopes going.

It is enough for someone to sit back in their chair and enjoy the show. Build-up coming your way.