Pick of the stats: Sheffield United v Charlton Athletic
- Published
Chris Wilder begins his third spell as Blades boss with the visit of Charlton to Bramall Lane on Saturday (15:00 BST).
Pointless basement boys Sheffield United are seeking to avoid making the worst start to a Championship season ever, while Wilder is hoping to avoid starting a spell in the dugout with a defeat for the third time at the club.
Nathan Jones' Addicks haven't won since the opening day and have taken just a point from their two away games thus far.
This will be the first league meeting between Sheffield United and Charlton since March 2017, a 2-1 home win for the Blades in League One, under Chris Wilder.
Charlton are winless in their past six away league games against Yorkshire sides (D2 L4), with their last such victory coming in April 2022 at Rotherham (1-0).
With zero points and a goal difference of -11, Sheffield United have made the joint-worst start after five games in Championship history (since 2004-05), level with Wycombe Wanderers in 2020-21. Only three sides have lost each of their opening six matches of a campaign: Sheffield Wednesday (2007-08), Peterborough United (2012-13) and the aforementioned Chairboys (2020-21).
Charlton Athletic have netted just three league goals so far this season, their fewest at this stage of a season since 1986-87 in the top-flight (3) and fewest in the second tier since 1970-71 (2).
This will be Chris Wilder's third spell in charge of Sheffield United – his previous two tenures both started with a defeat, vs Bolton in August 2016 (0-1) and vs Liverpool in December 2023 (0-2).
