A Thursday evening fixture in the Premier League makes you truly realise we’re into the Christmas month and the games come quicker than usual which makes brilliant viewing for avid football fans.
Sheffield United take on Newcastle at Bramall Lane where a win would put them back up to 6th place with 40% of the season played. Before this season began, Sheffield United’s lack of Premier League experience and style of play looked to be setting them up for a difficult year but they’re really proving all the doubters wrong and are true candidates for a potential European finish, but there’s 72 points left up for grabs with plenty of potential for it to change.
Lys Mousset made a transfer from Bournemouth to the Blades for a club record fee of £10 million which at the time was baffling due to Mousset’s record in the PL and general performances. The Frenchman had scored 3 goals in 58 appearances for Bournemouth but upon arrival has looked like a completely different player, he’s scored 4 in his last 6 PL games and contributed a further 3 assists.
Wilder’s real success in managing Sheffield United has been the defensive stubbornness, at the time of writing they’ve conceded the second least goals in the league only to Leicester and incredibly, have a better defensive record than Liverpool. The players have been marvellous, but much of the credit will go to Chris Wilder for his tactics regarding the setup in a team that very rarely changes and has a staple core.
George Baldock, John Lundstram and John Fleck are currently all on four bookings each and one away from a potential suspension which could rock the boat. The next four fixtures for the Blades are all against teams in the current bottom 5 though, which could easily set the tone for the second half of the season.
Newcastle, similar to Sheffield United, had no real pressure on the season ahead following the appointment of Bruce who was almost expected to fail. The Magpies have collected 6 points from a possible 21 on the road this season which of course is not fantastic; but they have faced the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and West Ham. Surprisingly, the wins have come against West Ham and Spurs, but Newcastle have a way of defending against the big teams that really does seem to work, it’s just offensively they’re hugely lacking.
Newcastle have scored a total of 13 goals in their 14 PL games so far, 8 of them have come from defensive players and considering they spent £55 million on Saint-Maximin and Joelinton, that’s simply not good enough. Joelinton has scored 1 goal in his time at Tyneside so far which way back in August and hasn’t looked like changing that anytime soon. Miguel Almiron was signed last season for £21 million and has not scored, and only provided 1 assist in his 24 PL appearances.
The saving grace is Martin Dubravka in goal, he faces an exceptional amount of shots being in a team that sits back and welcomes attacks. He’s made an average of 3.65 saves a game in total this season, which equates to 51 overall. If it wasn’t for his services, Newcastle would surely be pinned to the relegation zone.
Sheffield United look way too strong and are riding a wave of excellent form coming into tonight’s fixture, a home win looks on the cards and a clean sheet seems probable.
Sheffield United to win and BTTS- No is roughly available at 7/4 with most bookmakers.
Below is also a suggested bet builder with bet365 with a couple of fancies for goalscorers and cards.
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