Sheffield United

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on actor and Leyton Orient fan Daniel Mays.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Sheffield United are battling on and are still picking up points, but then I would never expect a Chris Wilder team to just chuck the towel in even if they have got little hope of staying up.

The point they picked up at Chelsea last weekend was the Blades' third draw in four games, but their situation at the bottom of the table means they really need to be winning games to have a chance of survival.

If you look at recent results then Brentford, who have drawn their past three matches, are in similar form but the difference with the Bees is that they are above the relegation zone and appear to be edging towards safety, one game at a time.

Thomas Frank's side are not out of danger yet but a win here would be massive. They should have more quality than Sheffield United in the final third, and I think that will make the difference.

Daniel's prediction: 1-0

Ivan Toney has not really got going for Brentford since he's been back from suspension, but I am still going with a home win.

See the full list of predictions here

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder says Brentford's Ivan Toney is an example of why young players "need time and patience".

Toney played under Wilder at Northampton at the start of his career and the pair are set to meet again on Saturday when the Blades face the Bees.

"You could see what he had in his locker, which took quite a while to put all together, which sometimes happens as a young player," said Wilder in his pre-match news conference.

The 28-year-old striker, who made his first-team debut for Northampton aged 16, moved to Newcastle in 2015. After a number of loan spells with different clubs, he joined Peterborough in 2018.

"Newcastle didn't get him going. This is what you deal in with young players," added Wilder. "Look at our two young players, [Daniel] Jebbison and [Will] Osula and the characteristics they've got.

"Number nines, modern-day centre-forwards. Strong, powerful and athletic. Obviously Ivan had all those tools and I'm not saying our boys will go on to have the career Ivan's had.

"But it's been a while coming and he'll possibly be the first to admit that [with] loans here, there and everywhere. Obviously he found a good home at Peterborough and developed off the back of that. He then got his move [to Brentford] and the numbers you are talking about and getting in the England squad.

"With young players you need time and patience because they're going to make mistakes and I'm sure Ivan did as a young player. But if somebody believes in them, which we do in our young players, then hopefully they come through.

"We're all looking for it to be now of course, the next six and 12 months, but he's a great example to our players and everyone at the club that this might take a bit of time with the young ones."

We asked for your thoughts on Sheffield United's points deduction and whether it will affect the rest of this season, after it was decided that the Blades would start their next English Football League campaign with a two-point deduction.

Here are some of your thoughts:

Joe: This is very frustrating and an indication of how the club has been run - not well. It puts into perspective how financially important our promotion was, even if this season has been a write-off. Worryingly, I can see us in this position again and being hit with the second two-point deduction. I highly doubt we will see investment in the squad next year.

Glenn: I'm not surprised or shocked. It is the club's fault as it is run so poorly. We got what we deserved and the club hasn't appealed the decision, so they knew it was coming. I don't think it will have an effect on the season, as many of the players, coaches and staff know the club is getting relegated.

Neill: Disappointing, but it could have been worse and it probably will be when the owners repeat it all over again. As if being the most ill-prepared team to face a season in the Premier League wasn't bad enough. The sooner they are gone, the better we will be.

Matt: Not a big surprise that we face more consequences for such a bad 2022-23 season behind the scenes. It just shows how well Heckingbottom did, bringing us out of the Championship with such alarming off-the-field issues. Here's hoping a big rebuild will settle everything down for us over the summer. Hopefully we can put some more sustainable plans in place.

After it was announced on Thursday that Sheffield United will begin the next campaign that they are in the English Football League with a two-point deduction, we want your thoughts on the news.

Are you disappointed with the punishment? Will it have an impact on the rest of this season?

Send us your views

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Sheffield United will be deducted two points at the start of the next season in which they play in the English Football League.

The penalty relates to the Blades defaulting on payments to other clubs during the 2022-23 season, at the end of which they won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.

A further two-point deduction has been suspended until the end of the season in which the initial deduction is enforced, and will only be imposed if the club defaults on further payments.

The Blades face the prospect of the sanction being applied next season, as they are bottom of the Premier League and nearing relegation to the Championship - they are nine points from safety with seven games left to play.

In a statement, Sheffield United said: "The club has co-operated with the EFL to reach a negotiated settlement on the issues in question.

"While disappointed to have the deduction imposed upon the return to the EFL and highlighting that awaiting overdue monies from several other clubs affected Sheffield United's financial situation, the club took the view that it was better to reach an agreement which minimised the risks of a higher deduction or further transfer embargoes being imposed, and being distracted by lengthy and costly legal proceedings.

"The club is now in a position to close this matter and concentrate on the future."

Henry Brownsey
BBC Sport journalist

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media before his side face Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.

Here are the main headlines from his news conference:

• Defender Jack Robinson will be "given every chance to be involved" after rolling his ankle against Chelsea.

• Revisiting last weekend's draw against Chelsea, Wilder said he was not "a massive fan of Sunday games" as he feels the atmosphere and feel around Sunday games are different to a Saturday afternoon or a night match - but he thought the atmosphere was excellent on that occasion.

• He joked the club are "on a roll - were unbeaten in one". Wilder said he has been happy with performances but "would have liked to have seen them earlier and been more consistent with it". He also praised the players' attitudes in recent games and said a similar type of performance will be needed to get a result against Brentford.

• On the Bees, Wilder said: "I've been incredibly impressed with Thomas [Frank], we've known him since the Championship days, we were battling it out for a couple of seasons with them and I'm delighted that they've got their rewards."

• Ivan Toney played under Wilder at Northampton and Wilder said "you could see what he had in his locker. It's taken quite a while for that all to be put together." Wilder added that to stop Toney scoring on Saturday, his defenders and team "need to have a good day".

• Wilder compared Toney's journey to the Premier League with Blades strikers William Osula and Daniel Jebbison, and how the pair need to be managed with "time and patience". Wilder said he will use his own "gut feelings and experience on when to play them and when to pull them out and how to deal with them".

Follow Thursday's Premier League news conferences

It might look like it is only showing in the past few games but Sheffield United have always been up for the fight.

Chris Wilder has come in and changed some things around, brought some players in. They have tried to come out and play and take on teams to get the three points but they have been caught out.

After that heavy defeat by Arsenal they had a chance to win against Fulham when VAR prevented them from going 4-1 up. They held their own against Liverpool for a long period of time and then they rallied against Chelsea. There has always been fight at the football club, they just have not had the quality needed.

Is it frustrating it is happening now? They are at a stage where quite a few of these players know they are probably going to be leaving the football club so they are playing as hard as they can to get get the best move possible for themselves.

That is not the only thing spurring them on though, Wilder is also finding the solutions of what is going to work in each game. He was never going to do it that simply straight away. He needed the window to get hold of a few solutions, bring in a striker that works for the team and try and find a formula that works for the group.

When you come in when things are not going so well these things take time. There are still going to be tricky roads but they can cause problems for teams they have coming up like Brentford.

When they set off we all knew it was going to be tough, but we would have all expected them get more than the 16 points,. And that will be the concern.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Brentford and Sheffield United in the Premier League.

• Brentford are winless in their last six league games against Sheffield United (D2 L4) since a 3-1 home win in August 2013. They have lost each of their last three against the Blades.

• Sheffield United have not kept a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League since May 2021, in a 1-0 win over Everton. They have conceded in each of their last 16 away games in the top-flight, at an average of 2.3 goals per outing (36 conceded in total).

• Brentford are winless in their last nine games in the Premier League (D4 L5), with their last victory coming against Wolves in February (2-0). Should they not win here, it will be the first time since September 2017 in the Championship that they have gone 10 consecutive league matches without a win (a run of 10 under Dean Smith).

• Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has won all three of his previous league meetings with Brentford’s Thomas Frank (twice in the 2018-19 Championship and 1-0 in this season’s reverse fixture). During his time in English football, the only opposition managers Frank has lost his first four meetings with are Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter.

• Ivan Toney has not scored in any of his last seven Premier League starts for Brentford, despite attempting 21 shots and having 36 touches in the opposition box across those games. This is his longest run of starts without scoring in the competition.

• Oliver McBurnie has scored six goals for Sheffield United in the Premier League this season and has never managed more in a single campaign in the competition (also six in 2019-20). However, all of his league goals this term have been scored at Bramall Lane. The Scot has not found the net in any of his last 30 away games in the top-flight.

Ben Meakin
Fan writer

It’s early days, but the start that Oliver Arblaster has made to his Blades career has been a huge source of encouragement for what may follow for the young midfielder and boyhood Blade.

Arblaster’s latest performance was against a Chelsea midfield three that cost over £250m – and he flourished. No player in the league created as many chances in this weekend’s round of fixtures as Arblaster did against the Blues.

I can’t overstate how impressive this is for a teenage midfielder who was on loan in League One earlier this season. He’s been dropped into the central midfield of the worst team in this year’s Premier League, and has immediately looked at home at this level.

Better still, Arblaster looks like a player who doesn’t carry any scars from the rest of the season. He’s playing without fear of failure, trying to progress the ball up the pitch whenever he can without simply passing it off at the first opportunity. Only James McAtee and Gustavo Hamer are creating chances from open play at a higher rate than Arblaster has so far. But he hasn’t been careless in possession either: Arblaster currently has the highest pass completion of any midfielder in the squad this season.

It’s been a superb start for the local lad, and one that gives us fans added hope for what we might see out of him and the team next season.

Ben Meakin can be found on BladesPod, external

We asked for your thoughts on Sunday's Premier League game between Sheffield United and Chelsea.

Here are some of your responses:

Sheff Utd fans

Andy: Pity we didn’t start the season with the same determination and mindset. Effort was outstanding and I would say we looked the better side, other than Chelsea had better individual players.

Bob: The Blades gave all they had in a determined and exciting performance. This seemed miles away from the humiliating hammerings from the likes of Newcastle and Arsenal. Well done, you Blades - you actually made us fans proud!

Green: Brilliant, fighting performance from the boys. If only we had this all season we might not have gone down. On to Brentford now!

Mandy: Absolutely outstanding. Brilliant team performance. Midfield totally fantastic. Osbourne and Arblaster really stood out. UTB.

Chelsea fans

Nic: Normal service is resumed. Poor substitution decisions by Pochettino and even worse timings. Sunday afternoon stroll again for the five same players. Do management not watch re-runs of the games? Or are they totally oblivious to those same players continuously only giving 50%. When is the wake-up?

Jason: There is no real change from the beginning of the season. A manager who still hasn’t decided on who our best XI are and whose ideas are technically short of the mark. Yes, we have a young side who are still learning, but how many will wait until we have a leader who can successfully show them the way. Roll on the end of the season!

Matt: Really poor. Thursday's match was a waste of time with the three points we got. I also cannot understand how we couldn't see the game out at the end. It pains me to say it, but I think that our season may be over. Pochettino needs to be sacked for how badly we have performed throughout the season. He is too tactically inept - it's unreal.

Sharif: Honestly, beyond a joke now for Chelsea. Manager needs to go, no gameplan and again subs too late. Poch has had a path to some form of European football on a plate twice this season and has bottled it both times.

Watch the best of the action from Sheff Utd v Chelsea on Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer

Image source, PA Media

Ex-West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker says Sheffield United have "learned a hard lesson" in the Premier League this season.

A late Oli McBurnie equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday made it three draws in their past five games. The Blades also performed well in defeat at Anfield on Thursday.

However, despite that uptick in form, they remain nine points from safety with just seven games remaining.

"It is too late to start fighting now," Reo-Coker told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "You want to be in the Premier League? Don't leave it until the final seven or eight games to show some character.

"The quality isn't quite there but they never looked like they had the identity to stick to what they are - hard-working, grinding out results and getting in people's faces.

"They got flattered into thinking they were Premier League players and they have learned a hard lesson."

Listen to more on Sheffield United from 23'25 on BBC Sounds

Mark Chapman introduces highlights and analysis from Sunday's three Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to Sunday's BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentary in full:

Manchester United v Liverpool

Sheffield United v Chelsea

Harry Poole
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Since suffering the third in a series of heavy home defeats - a 6-0 thrashing by Arsenal - at the start of March, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder will be satisfied with the response his side have shown.

Despite their desperate position at the foot of the table, with an immediate return to the Championship looming, the Blades backed up draws against Bournemouth and Fulham by giving title-chasing Liverpool a scare in midweek and earning a hard-fought draw with Chelsea on Sunday.

Oli McBurnie's stoppage-time equaliser was a deserved reward for United's efforts - and the fight shown by the players was not lost on the Bramall Lane crowd who rallied behind the hosts with Chelsea appearing vulnerable.

While the point barely improves their situation - they are nine points adrift of safety with 21 points available - Wilder will hope they can maintain this level of performance for the remainder of the campaign to ensure they arrive at a summer rebuild with optimism.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has been speaking to Sky Sports after clinching a late draw against the Blues: "I think it was a deserved result.

"Second half was really good but I am disappointed in the first goal. We all look at set plays up-and-down the country and we all know how important they are - it is disappointing to get done again.

"First 15 minutes, I didn't like our performance. After that, I liked our performance - full of personality.

"I would have been devastated if we didn't get a result out of that game.

"I am looking at our individual team performance. We were really good against some big players and collectively we were the better team.

"We have talked about it after the Liverpool game and we went deep into that game. We had two good performances against Fulham and Bournemouth, we deserved a better points return.

"We all know the intensity of the division and we move on to Brentford next week. The belief will hopefully be good, they have shown a lot of qualities.

"There is a load of games left and we approach the next game as the most important and see if we can go get a result.

"The performance of the players ignited the crowd and the crowd lifted the players when it was needed."

Here are the key facts and figures following Sunday’s game between Sheffield United and Chelsea in the Premier League.

• Chelsea have drawn three successive away games in the Premier League for the first time since September 2000. Meanwhile, the Blues have conceded 27 away goals in the top-flight this term, their most after 15 away games of a league season since 1990-91 (32 goals).

• Sheffield United have conceded 47 Premier League goals at Bramall Lane this season, the most ever by a home side in a single campaign in the competition. It is the most by an English top-flight club, on home soil, in a season since 1960-61 (Chelsea 48 goals and Newcastle 49 goals).

• Noni Maduke's goal, assisted by Cole Palmer, was the 14th time Chelsea had a Premier League goal both scored and assisted by players aged 22 or younger this season.

• Thiago Silva (39y 198d) became the third-oldest player to score away from home in the Premier League, after Teddy Sheringham (39y 343d) and Dean Windass (39y 235d).

• Sheffield United netted their third ever 90th minute equaliser in a Premier League match, while all three have been scored by Oli McBurnie (also v Manchester United in November 2019 and West Ham United in January 2024).

• Gustavo Hamer has five assists in the Premier League this season, the most by a Sheffield United player across a single campaign in the competition since Dane Whitehouse in 1993-94 (six assists).

Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie has been speaking after securing a late draw for the Blades at Bramall Lane: "The last few games, we have been there or thereabouts. The boys put in excellent effort against Liverpool and now it is nice to get something for the fans.

"We always say, at home, we fancy ourselves against anyone, but that hasn't always been the case this season. We need to make here a tough place for others to come.

"We need to start games off solid, work our way into games and, when it opens up, then get on the ball more.

"There is still plenty of games to play and it is about building on the performances. We are not looking too far ahead."

Oli McBurnie scored an injury-time equaliser for relegation-threatened Sheffield United as Chelsea's hopes of securing European football suffered a blow.

Mauricio Pochettino's ninth-placed visitors were unable to maintain momentum following their dramatic last-gasp comeback win over Manchester United on Thursday.

Instead, just three days later, they fell victim to a late sucker-punch as McBurnie fired in from close-range in the 93rd minute to earn a point for the Premier League's bottom side.

Noni Madueke's excellent finish midway through the second half - the England youth international cutting inside and curling an excellent finish past Ivo Grbic - had put Chelsea on course for victory.

The Blues took an 11th-minute lead when Thiago Silva was allowed to side-foot in Conor Gallagher's corner unchallenged, but Jayden Bogle beat Djordje Petrovic at his near post to bring the Blades level.

The increasing belief in Chris Wilder's players was evident as the Bramall Lane crowd rallied behind their side - and they were rewarded for their persistence by a moment of celebration in an otherwise difficult season.

Sheffield United remain bottom of the table, nine points adrift of safety with 21 points still to fight for.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

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Three matches make up Sunday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

BBC Radio 5 Live commentaries:

• Manchester United v Liverpool

• Sheffield United v Chelsea

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Chris Sutton is making predictions for every Premier League game this season against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on darts stars Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall, who both support Manchester United.

Sutton's prediction: 1-3

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was as pumped up after Thursday's dramatic win over Manchester United as I've seen him since Lucas Moura's goal when his Tottenham side beat Ajax in the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.

I felt for Pochettino because his side were 2-0 up and cruising until Moises Caicedo gifted United a way back into the game. For the score to be 2-2 at half-time, he must have been tearing his hair out.

Chelsea have got a real naivety about them defensively but they still found a way to win, and they have still got a sniff of finishing high enough to qualify for Europe - which would be really remarkable given the season they have had.

I still think it is last week's 2-2 draw with Burnley that sums their campaign up though, which means there is a chance they could follow Thursday by stuffing things up here.

The way I'd describe Chelsea right now is as a team that is still learning. Pochettino has made some pretty pointed comments about how his players need to work as hard out of possession as they do when they have the ball, and that applies whoever the opposition are.

They should really beat bottom side Sheffield United but they need to keep their focus and maintain their intensity.

I don't feel it's the case that the Blades are running out of time to save themselves from relegation, because I think that's inevitable. It's really just a matter of when they go down, not if.

Littler's prediction: 0-1

Aspinall's prediction: 2-2

See the full list of predictions