Sheffield United

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.

• 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."