Sheffield United

Aston Villa missed out on the chance to move top of the Premier League as they were held at home by bottom club Sheffield United.

Cameron Archer, sold by Villa to the Blades in the summer, stunned the hosts by opening the scoring in the 88th minute from close range.

Substitute Nicolo Zaniolo snatched a point for Villa with a header deep into stoppage time, but they could not find a winner.

Villa needed a win to go top for the first time since August 2011, having not led the table at this stage in a season for 25 years.

But despite dominating possession and chances, they remain behind leaders Arsenal on goal difference.

Leon Bailey had the ball in the net earlier in the second half but it was ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR).

Villa had come close in the first half when United keeper Wes Foderingham saved low from Moussa Diaby, before Ezri Konsa sent a stooping far-post header over from a John McGinn corner.

They were also frustrated by VAR, which corroborated on-pitch official Anthony Taylor's decision not to award an 11th-minute penalty when Ollie Watkins was bundled over by Vinicius Souza.

VAR continued to deny Villa after the break, with Jacob Ramsey judged to have fouled Foderingham from a corner before Bailey swept home just before the hour.

And they were sucker punched in the 88th minute when Archer turned home Gustavo Hamer's pull back from inside the six-yard box, before Zaniolo rescued some small consolation by beating Foderingham to Douglas Luiz's 97th-minute cross.

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Aston Villa v Sheffield United is Friday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

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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 Felix White, guitarist with 86TVs and a Fulham fan.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Sheffield United famously scored a ghost goal at Villa Park in 2020, when they were denied a win because Hawk-Eye did not recognise they had scored.

The Blades could do with a few of those at the other end this time because I do not see them keeping Villa out otherwise.

I think there has been a slight upturn in performances since Chris Wilder took charge at the start of December, but they are still bottom of the table.

Villa, meanwhile, are flying. They had to come from behind to beat Brentford last week but their home form is so impressive. Their long winning run at Villa Park has to end at some point, but it is hard to see it happening here.

Unai Emery's side will be top on Christmas Day if they win this one and Arsenal draw with Liverpool. What an incentive that is to keep pushing on.

Felix's prediction: 4-1

I have triple-captained Ollie Watkins in my Fantasy team this week so I'm going for him to get a hat-trick.

I am bottom of my league because I did not realise you got charged points for every transfer you make… so I made about 45. I am so heartbroken about it. I'm checking it way more than I should be.

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

Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external

Sheffield United need a new pen - for getting players to sign on the dotted line early in the new year. United have 10 players who have started a Premier League game already this season whose contract expires in the summer, along with promising academy products Daniel Jebbison and Rhys Norrington-Davies.

While it is time to say farewell to ageing fringe players like John Fleck, the spine of the squad for the past few years is up for renewal: John Egan, George Baldock, Oli McBurnie, Wes Foderingham and Oli Norwood being some of the more notable names.

Someone please make a stop at the nearest stationery supplier to Bramall Lane, and get it in the hands of this squad's most useful, valuable players long before they hit an open market in which we might not be able to compete.

Jimmy Smith from Blades Ramble has been speaking about the transition from Paul Heckingbottom to Chris Wilder on BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast: "It's still going to be a tricky festive period, but the future itself under Chris Wilder looks much brighter for me. I've been a huge backer of Wilder and it was such a shame to see him go in the first place.

"I still think Paul Heckingbottom did a great job for getting us [to the Premier League]. It was the job he was asked to do and he did it in very difficult circumstances, but it was not working. I don't think he was sufficiently backed in the summer, I have to say.

"Wilder brings a whole new dynamic to the situation. He brings everybody back together again, and it's looking very good this festive season.

"He's come in and his primary aim has been to get a togetherness back in the club, whether that's the supporters or players coming together. It's absolutely night and day.

"It's Chris Wilder's wheelhouse this, in terms of maximising what he can get out of players with potentially limited ability. Our squad is not a Premier League squad. We've got elements of quality in there, but we have to get the most out of these players."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Rob Staton, BBC Radio Sheffield

The clarity with which Chris Wilder was talking about the transfer window earlier on Wednesday was refreshing.

Most managers don't like to discuss these matters publicly, but the Sheffield United boss was to the point. He wants the club to be decisive, moving on players not part of his plans while still leaving the door open for anyone to work their way into first-team reckoning between now and the new year.

All this comes after an interesting past few days.

One reporter from The Athletic touted United as a possible "surprise" team in the window, with activity to raise an eyebrow. Another report connected the Blades with a loan move for former striker Iliman Ndiaye.

If nothing else, it's layering the next few weeks with intrigue. There's nothing at the moment to suggest a big splurge is on the cards and the phrase "wheeling and dealing" has been used a few times with Wilder. You never know, though.

United's next test is to go up against Aston Villa - the Premier League's surprise package - on Friday.

They'll need to hope there's a little more pressure on Villa these days now that they're in the spotlight. That could give them a chance to cause what would, all considered, be a big upset.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media to preview Friday's Premier League game at Aston Villa.

Here are the main headlines from his news conference:

• On Aston Villa's run of 15 wins in a row at Villa Park: "It doesn't come much tougher. They are on a fabulous run, an incredibly well-coached team with outstanding individuals. And it is an opportunity for them to go top of the division on Friday."

• On Villa boss Unai Emery: "He is a world-class operator in terms of what he has achieved and what he has won in Europe and the standing he has in the game."

• Discussing injuries and the availability of players in his squad, Wilder said: "There are some issues that we need to resolve in the long and medium term. But short term we have a few issues leading up to that game which is not ideal."

• He added that his current playing squad are "young, inexperienced and naive" in terms of Premier League experience and age profile.

• Wilder is confident in what he has seen in his current squad but added they must be "together and produce one of those Sheffield United performances" to get a result.

• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their past 14 home league games against Sheffield United (W8 D6) since losing 2-0 in January 1966.

• Sheffield United have won just two of their past 33 Premier League away games (D4 L27), winning 2-1 at Manchester United in January 2021 and 1-0 at Everton in May 2021. They are the only Premier League side without a win on the road so far this season (D1 L7).

• Aston Villa have won their past two Premier League games played on a Friday, as many as they had in their first 12 such games (D4 L6).

• Sheffield United have had the fewest shots (142) and the lowest xG (13) of any Premier League side so far this season. As it stands, their 8.4 shots-per-game is the lowest on record (since 1997-98) of any side in a single Premier League campaign.

• Ollie Watkins needs one goal to have scored 10+ goals in each of his first four Premier League seasons - the Aston Villa forward could be the first Englishman to achieve that since Robbie Fowler between 1993-94 and 1996-97.

The annual feast of festive Premier League football is about to get under way.

So what is your best memory of following the Blades at Christmas?

Mince pies on the train for a Boxing Day away trip? Squinting through the snow to see your team score a late winner? Ending the year with a Christmas cracker?

Let us know here

Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external

Wes Foderingham made a game-sealing error against Chelsea, just weeks after a nightmare moment against Bournemouth that effectively put the game out of reach – sparking further debate about his position as United’s number one.

The headline numbers are not pretty for Foderingham: he did keep his first clean sheet of the season last week, but has seen 43 shots fly, slide, squirm and slip into the back of his net already this year – seven more goals than any other team have conceded.

However, I am happy to put forward a defence of Wes – largely because he has not had much of one in front of him so far. He is the only keeper in the Premier League to have faced more than 100 shots on target. His save percentage of 65% is 12th out of 18 keepers who have played more than 10 games, but what about the quality of the chances he’s facing?

The average post-shot xG (expected goals) of each shot on target Foderingham has faced is the second-highest mark in the league, behind only Luton’s Thomas Kaminski (as per FB Ref analytics, external). In other words, not only does Wes face the most shots on target – those shots are generally from clearer chances (or better strikes) than every other keeper bar one.

He has not been a shot-stopping sensation – but he has been fine. Subtracting the actual goals conceded from the post-shot xG of all shots faced puts him above some much bigger names like Ederson, David Raya, Aaron Ramsdale, and Robert Sanchez.

A better keeper might have conceded a couple of goals less, or perhaps not made the mistakes mentioned at the top. However, unless United can address the sheer volume of quality shots their keeper is facing, it’s almost a moot point who is in net.

Foderingham was superb behind a competent defence in the Championship last year, and he can be again either back in that league next season or should United tighten up this campaign.

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.