Sheffield United

We asked for your thoughts on Saturday's game between Chelsea and Sheffield United.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Ken: Good to see us back to winning ways. Djordje Petrovic could be a fresh beginning in goal and hopefully we see a bit of Nkunku-ball on Tuesday against Newcastle. Overall, three points and everyone is happy.

David: Nothing new today. Still too slow, too backwards and very poor creatively in attacking positions. Luckily for us, Sheffield United didn't really offer much of a threat. If it wasn’t for Cole Palmer, this result would have been a bore draw.

Steven: Just papering over the cracks - I'm sure this will be yet again another false dawn. The manager is clueless, the owners too, and the biggest culprits are the recruitment team and medical team. Too many young players bought in with hardly any experience in the side and results like these against sides destined for the drop do nothing for us.

Keith: Apart from the two good goals, Chelsea were pathetic: slow and ponderous. Back to their old ways of passing sideways and backwards while not getting the ball into the opponent's box and not shooting.

Sheff Utd fans

Nick: Held Chelsea to a lacklustre performance in the first half of this game but in the second half we let Palmer carve up our defence. Overall, I don't think going down by two goals is a bad result for United given the players we have costing just a fraction of Chelsea's outlay.

Brian: Very poor - bordering on amateur.

Tom: Pretty poor side. Not going to be able to compete in the Premier league with these players.

Cath: Definitely far more solid under Chris Wilder, but with Everton’s form I don’t see us getting anywhere near survival, even if our form does improve.

Former Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba reacted to defeat at Chelsea on the Blades Heaven Podcast: "After all the buoyancy of the previous two games, it's a reminder that it's both sides. Everyone has been saying how brilliant the intensity has been, and it was again today but you've got to remember that this is the Premier League.

"You can't question what we saw commitment wise but you're playing against top world players, World Cup winners. Everything you do with the ball has to be perfect and unfortunately today it wasn't. Our quality players on the ball like Hamer and McAtee weren't able to pass the ball and able to retain possession and that makes it difficult.

"They didn't lose their way, they didn't down tools and look lost, so there are positives. The manager can assess more in these games what he needs in January. The boys have to remember that this is like an audition, you're auditioning for the second half of the season here."

Listen to the full episode here

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Friday and Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

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

And Match of the Day 2 brings you a round-up of Sunday's games.

Listen back to Sunday's BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton

Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United

Listen to Saturday's commentaries here:

Manchester City 2-2 Crystal Palace

Burnley 0-2 Everton

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "Mixed emotions. In the first half we got it spot on. We limited them to very few chances in the first half. It’s just the naivety of our approach in the first 15 minutes [of the second half] when we went after [the ball]. We didn’t have to get after the ball.

"The crowd was murmuring a bit. We quickly went from being in the game to being out of the game. Lessons learned for a relatively young and inexperienced group.

"It’s an extremely honest bunch of young players, in the main. What we need to do is learn on the job because the Premier League is a tough place to learn – that’s what we found out today.

"Our xG has gone through the roof in terms of where it has been. We got the balance right today. We weren’t sat on the crossbar waiting to get beaten. There’s always going to be a threat the other way, but for a team in our position we were in a decent place.

"But if you open the game up to really good players they’re going to find that pass and pick you off, and suddenly you’re in deep trouble. We just need to be a little bit smarter to certain situations."

Matthew Howarth, BBC Sport

Chris Wilder lamented Sheffield United's naivety after Saturday's defeat at Stamford Bridge but the 56-year-old will take heart from his team's dogged first-half performance in west London.

They limited Chelsea to very few opportunities and could have taken the lead themselves, Cameron Archer curling wide from outside the penalty area in a rare foray forward from the Blades.

Gustavo Hamer tested Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic with a dipping free-kick in the second half, but by that time efforts from Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson had put the Blues firmly in the driving seat.

The Blades have now failed to score in seven of their 17 league games this season, more often than any other team in the division.

Things aren't about to get any easier for United over the festive period, with games against in-form Aston Villa and champions Manchester City either side of a crucial home clash with fellow strugglers Luton on 26 December.

• Chelsea have won three consecutive Premier League games against Sheffield United for the second time, last doing so in March 2007.

• Chelsea have won consecutive Premier League home games for the first time since a run of three in October 2022 - more victories than in their previous 14 at Stamford Bridge (W1 D7 L6).

• Cole Palmer has both scored and assisted in three Premier League games for Chelsea this season. No other Blues player has done so once.

• Having won their first three Premier League games against Chelsea, Sheffield United have lost six of their last eight against the Blues (W1 D1), conceding at least twice in each defeat.

• Chelsea had 77.9% possession against Sheffield United, completing 729 out of 805 passes – the first time they’ve attempted over 800 and completed over 700 passes in a Premier League home game since January 2021 against Wolves (898 attempted, 832 completed), Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge.

Chelsea returned to winning ways with a hard-fought victory over a dogged Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues, beaten by Manchester United and Everton in their past two games, broke the deadlock nine minutes into the second half when Cole Palmer slotted home after fine work by Raheem Sterling.

It was 2-0 seven minutes later, Nicolas Jackson converting Palmer's pass after Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham palmed the ball into the former Manchester City youngster's path.

Chelsea enjoyed almost 80% possession across the 90 minutes, but Conor Gallagher's long-range effort was their only shot on target in a forgettable first half for Mauricio Pochettino's team.

Cameron Archer curled wide for the visitors in the first half and full Chelsea debutant Djordje Petrovic pulled off a fine save from Gustavo Hamer's low free-kick, but that was the closest the visitors came to a breakthrough.

Second-half substitute Armando Broja should have increased Chelsea's lead late in the second half but somehow skewed Palmer's low delivery off target from point-blank range.

The Blues move on to 22 points, while Sheffield United remain five points from safety at the foot of the table.

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

Chelsea fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Blades fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

There are five games being played in the Premier League on Saturday and we will bring you every moment.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

All times are GMT

Former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba told BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast that fans aren't being unrealistic with their aspirations for the season, adding: "We're just happy to see the energy and effort back."

Listen to Blades Heaven on BBC Sounds

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 darts star 'Hollywood' Chris Dobey, who supports Newcastle.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

After losing to Liverpool in Chris Wilder's first game back in charge, Sheffield United got their 'new manager bounce' last week when they beat Brentford - now can they follow that up?

The Blades have got the worst away record in the top flight this season, with only one point from seven games, so you would think not - but then again they are up against a Chelsea side, who I am wrong about most weeks.

Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino came out and said he wanted some new players after they lost to Everton last week - which is pretty amazing when you consider Chelsea's spending spree last summer - and it does not appear things are going to settle down at Stamford Bridge anytime soon.

I am still going to go with them to win, because they are at home to the bottom side in the Premier League who have struggled on the road, but you can probably tell I am not exactly confident that is what will happen.

Dobey's prediction: 3-1

You never know what Chelsea are going to do at the moment. I am going to back them, though, because they have lost their past two games and they need to pull something out of the bag here.

Read all of Sutton's predictions for this weekend's games

Former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba told the Blades Heaven podcast that it was a "masterstroke" for Chris Wilder to make Anel Ahmedhodzic his captain and added, "he's got our super player refocused".

Listen to Blades Heaven on BBC Sounds

Rob Staton, BBC Radio Sheffield

Chris Wilder walked into the tunnel, ready for his post-match interview with my colleague Adam Oxley live on Radio Sheffield.

“It’s a praise for Sheffield United, Bob” he stated — a reference to the name of our post-match phone-in and the late Bob Jackson who founded it. Adam videod the interview for social media and it went viral locally. Wilder’s beaming smile was indicative of a changed club.

That infectious expression resonated. Wilder’s a Blade. The supporters were doing the exact same thing after the Brentford win last weekend. I think the reason it travelled so well on X is because you could see a manager loving every minute being back at the Lane.

When he took over in 2016, Sheffield United needed connecting back to the fans. Everyone needed energy. It took a few weeks at the start of that first season but once they found it, they shot from League One to the Premier League.

In the space of a week, Wilder had done it again. Fans have started to believe again. The old energy is back.

Whether the quality is there or not remains to be seen. The Blades under Wilder, though, seem to be very much back. A transfer meeting on Wednesday was said to be positive according to the boss.

If they can get a few more points between now and January, the board should consider giving the manager the opportunity to add players so that he can bring another success story to his Sheffield United journey.

Josh Lobley, BBC Sport

Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at Chelsea.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• Ben Osborn will be involved in the game while Rhys Norrington-Davies is back in training and Rhian Brewster is also back on the grass.

• On the lift his squad had from their victory over Brentford: "It's not just internally, but in the city. Being a local boy, you feel it around the town and you see people being lifted. It's up to us to continue that trajectory."

• On Chelsea's shaky form: "I'm not getting caught up in that narrative. They have a world class manager and a really good team. Two or three weeks ago they went toe to toe with [Manchester] City, the best team in Europe."

• Wilder had more to say about the Blues: "Mauricio [Pochettino] is six months into a new job and putting his own mark on it. Their roster is an incredibly healthy one packed with talent, especially at the top end of the pitch with pace and power. An iconic football club that's had an outstanding 20-25 years. We have to go there with belief. The first half an hour of the game is vital for us. We need a big start there and for us to get a result on Saturday would be another step forward."

• On the return of Ollie Norwood and Ollie McBurnie, Wilder said: "These senior players have some decent young players to push out of the team. Ollie at his best is a handful, but I've got to say [William] Osula has been outstanding."

• Wilder gave details about a meeting he's had with the club about the upcoming January transfer window: "We talked about my assessment of the squad and what we need to do. Maybe some players are surplus, maybe there are some specific positions where we might bring in. We talked about player contracts and tying the younger players down which is key. It was a really positive meeting."

• On James McAtee's Premier League goal: Wilder said: "I like him. He interacts with the older players and is a typical Manchester boy. He's got a personality, which you have to have to be a top footballer. He's impressed us all in the two games. We talked about not having enough big moments and he has that ability to do that."

• Sheffield United are the only team without an away win in the Premier League so far this season. The Blades have also scored fewer (four) and conceded the joint-most (20) away goals in the top flight this term.

• Yorkshire teams are winless in their past 19 Premier League away games against Chelsea, since Leeds United’s 2-0 victory in December 1999.

• Raheem Sterling has been involved in 19 goals in his past 18 Premier League appearances against promoted sides, scoring 15 and assisting four. Three of his five league goals this season have come against such clubs (two against Luton and one against Burnley).

• Sheffield United’s next goal will be their 200th in the Premier League. With 199 goals in 214 games so far, their goal-per-game ratio of 0.93 is the lowest of all teams to have played in at least three campaigns in the competition.

• Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has won 36 of his 42 Premier League games against promoted sides, the best win rate by any manager to have taken charge of at least 10 such games (85.7%).

Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external

What a difference a week makes... or should that be what a difference Chris Wilder has made?

United were on their knees last Saturday after a 5-0 humbling at previously bottom Burnley, with the players looking out of energy, confidence and ideas.

Enter the returning Wilder, and suddenly the Blades have looked competitive again, staying in the game until the 94th minute against leaders Liverpool and then putting in their best 90 minutes of the season in the win over Brentford.

I am not one for getting carried away with a tight win over a mid-table team shorn of its best attacking talent, and there is a reason that the phrase 'new manager bounce' exists. However, Wilder has made immediate, quite radical (based on his previous stint as boss) tactical changes that have reaped rewards.

First, he broke up the unproductive midfield pairing of Oliver Norwood and Vinicius Souza, which many fans had been crying out for for weeks. Souza instantly looks better as the main defensive midfielder, while Gus Hamer has finally got to play as the number eight where he had so much success with Coventry City.

Wilder also ditched the 3-5-2 formation that he and predecessor Paul Heckingbottom had relied on so much in the past - opting for a bolder 4-3-3.

Another oft-cited criticism of Wilder’s previous tenure was an apparent unwillingness to lean on young talent - yet here he immediately threw the energetic Andre Brooks in for his first senior league starts, and brought on teenager Sydie Peck for a hard-running league debut late on.

Upon rejoining, Wilder claimed that United are "getting him at his best", suggesting some self-reflection has taken place for the way it ended with the Blades two and a half years ago.

It would have been easy to dismiss that as merely a nice soundbite for the fans from a new boss, but Wilder’s early actions speak just as loudly as those words.

We asked for your thoughts on Saturday's match between Sheffield United and Brentford.

Here are some of your comments:

Sheffield United fans

Robert: The win over Brentford was a small step on a very long trail. But I think Chris Wilder has made the right move as Sheffield United need to play front-foot football. If you let the opposition attack, they will score.

Neikl: It was like watching a different team. So full of energy and determination. and just what us Blades supporters want to see. As always, the team kept us biting our nails right to the very end. But no matter, we got over the line at last. What a feeling. It's why we support the Blades.

Tom: Wilder's put a rocket up the players. Their displays against Liverpool and Brentford have already been so much better. The passion we fans expect is back. We need it to continue and we will have a chance.

Nathan: An encouraging performance from us. Defensively we were compact, determined and committed. Anel Ahmedhodzic impressed, and Jack Robinson was tremendous for me with his wholehearted tackles and long throws. Good to have Wilder back, but still feel for Hecky who handled himself brilliantly under sustained pressure. Come on United!

Brentford fans

George: Bryan Mbeumo's absence played less of a role in our defeat than Mathias Jensen's. Without his ability to dictate the flow of the match, we were toothless and flat. To be where we are on the table in spite of these injuries is a credit to how hard the remaining players have worked each week, but Sheffield just had a little more in the tank.

Kenneth: We are deep trouble with so many injuries. While I don’t think we will be relegated, it is very unlikely that we will pick up any points until early in the New Year.

R: Without Mbeumo and of course no Ivan Toney yet - although he will go in January to another club - the Bees will struggle and be in a relagation scrap within a month. They must buy and get someone to put that ball in the net and we need a couple of defenders as well.

James: Missing piece is the creative one, Ivan Toney. It's that simple.

Image source, BBC

Anis Ben Slimane spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven Podcast about Saturday's victory over Brentford: "It's a big relief - working hard every day and working hard for those moments. The atmosphere was incredible and to get three points was amazing.

"What a goal and what a player McAtee is. We know how important he is for our team and how good he is in the offensive game. He showed his quality. I'm happy for him and happy that he could help the team.

"I haven't played a lot this season so know how to work hard every day and show the coach and staff that I'm ready to play. New coach, new eyes and for me it's a fresh energy. We just have to keep working hard and everything is possible.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures.

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

And Match of the Day 2 brings you a round-up of Sunday's games.

Listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

• Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth

• Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal

Listen to Sunday's commentaries here:

• Luton Town 1-2 Manchester City

• Tottenham 4-1 Newcastle United

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder: "The key now is to have more of these days like today. It's about small steps. Everybody played their part.

"We have had two days training [since I arrived]. We were a bit off in the first half. Is that because of what they did on Wednesday? Possibly.

"We possibly should have put the game to bed before the end. This is a day to be celebrated and then we move on to Chelsea [next Saturday].

On McAtee's "outstanding" performance: "He has great ability and he loves playing for this club. He wanted to come back here after last season.

"I'm delighted to be managing him and to have the chance of trying to get something out of him."