In the latest episode of BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast, the team discuss whether Paul Heckingbottom's side is stronger now compared to the end of last season. Former Blades forward Carl Asaba believes despite losing the likes of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, as a whole the squad is in a better position now and is optimistic about the "exciting players that can improve".
Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external
A sentence I never thought I would write 12 months ago: Oli McBurnie could be key to Sheffield United staying in the Premier League.
A year ago McBurnie was a striker who had gone a full Championship season without a goal and couldn’t stay fit. Then he volleyed in an equaliser at Luton and went on an absurd spell of scoring, where for a few months he was essentially the best striker in the Championship.
Injury disrupted the second half of that season for him, and he missed the start of this one with another knock - but he’s now back in the team.
With respect to Benie Traore and William Osula, it’s made an immense difference having an experienced, fully-formed striker on the pitch in McBurnie. He posed problems off the bench for the mighty Manchester City and then got an assist, and was inches away from a winner against Everton.
As well as his strong play, it’s McBurnie’s personality that could make a major difference for us this season. He’s much less of the magnet-for-trouble that we saw in his first few years, and is now the squad’s resident lovable rogue and - increasingly - an on-field leader.
McBurnie had the cheesiest of cheesy grins upon the return of James McAtee this week, perhaps signalling the resumption of last season’s bromance.
He also has enough respect among his team-mates to publicly chide Anel Ahmedhodzic for trying to use his feet instead of another appendage against Manchester City. “Head it bro” was definitely one way of articulating the howls from the Bramall Lane Kop in that moment.
After a tough start to the season, a strong team spirit is going to count for a lot in the coming weeks and McBurnie can lead the line, on and off the pitch.
We asked for your views on Saturday's game between Sheffield United and Everton.
Here are some of your comments:
Sheffield United fans
Julian: Feisty, enjoyable and very tense. We can come away knowing we've signed a natural goalscorer and also know we'll get better as a team as things gel; the lead up to this season has been about as rocky as you could imagine with two key players leaving just before things got started. It's going to be tough but now we know we'll never be a pushover!
Lola: I thought a draw was a good result and Archer was excellent but we’re unlucky not to score at the end when McBurnie headed but Pickford made a really good save.
Christopher: An important point to get the ball rolling. I’m hopeful there will be three teams getting fewer points than us by the end of the season.
Everton fans
Gary: Passing is weak, we don’t control the ball well and our first touch is poor. We don’t appear fast enough or able to be creative, I fear a long season. I suspect Pickford gets the most balls back to him than any other keeper as we lack midfield creativity.
Dave: Cracking game so early in the season and thought our movement and passing has improved since last season. So good to have that centre forward presence which has always been our trademark. The work on both flanks was encouraging. Gueye's work in centre of midfield was much improved and Jordan at his best yet again at the end.
David: I would've liked to have won. It was a good battling display. Once again a couple of errors cost us. On the plus side we scored and took a point away from home. Great save at the end by England's number one. If we keep key players fit and play like that, we should be OK this season.
Mark: I felt a vast majority of the game they controlled, should have been two up before the Sheff Utd leveller.
Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie has been discussing his last-minute chance in the 2-2 draw against Everton on the Blades Heaven podcast: "It's a tough one to take. We've worked the corner well and as soon as it's come off my head I thought it was a goal. Even the second one, I think it bounced off Pickford's head and fell into his hands somehow. It's one of those things, maybe we need that little bit of luck. The boys were excellent and can feel disappointed to not get three points.
"Pickford had a little smile about it. He knew he got lucky with that second one as well. It's one of those things - sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. I thought it was in both times, but he's made a great save on the first one, and then got a bit of luck on the second, so I can't really complain."
On the positive progress the Blades are making: "Good players play well with good players. I think that happens a lot of the time. There's little things that do obviously come with playing with each other, like where we want to be or where our runs want to be. But, when good players play with each other, you can gel quite quickly and I think that is what's happened.
"[The next step is] we want to win. Last week we thought we were unlucky to not get a point against the best team in the world and we wanted to come here, build on our previous performances, and get three points. We were that close to getting those three points."
Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis of Saturday's six Premier League fixtures, plus action from Friday's meeting between Luton Town and West Ham United.
If you missed Match of the Day then fear not - you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer here.
And Match of the Day 2 brings you a round-up of Sunday's three games here.
Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom speaking to Match of the Day: "Probably a fair result, we can't grumble because it was a really good game. Disappointed we couldn't nick the winner at the end, but it was a great save. I always talk about performance with my players and if we play like that I am happy and proud of them.
"The only poor part of the game was the start of the second half, Everton came forward more and got more balls in the box, put us under pressure. Couple of poor decisions in key moments. In the end it could have gone either way."
On goalscorer Cameron Archer: "The first goal was excellent, from him and the whole team. To fall behind to a set play was disappointing but the size of Everton it is hard to defend sometimes We fought to get back into the game and then got ourselves on top come half-time."
On whether today was a six-pointer: "It is in a way, because we could have had three points and we didn't get them. It just shows how hard it is to get points in the Premier League.
"It is a young squad we are trying to bring together and that is why we bang on about the margins and standards. So a point is important. Day by day we have been getting stronger and it took until the end of the window to get where we want to be."
Shamoon Hafez, BBC Sport at Bramall Lane
Expectations weren't high before this game as United, who had the lowest average number of shots per game in the top flight this season, took on an Everton side that had failed to find the net in their opening three league games.
But both teams displayed fight and grit to grind out a result that helps them alleviate building pressure after a poor start to the campaign.
United have been tipped as one of the favourites for relegation but signalled once again they won't by pushovers by showing plenty of heart, as they did in defeat by champions Manchester City last Sunday.
The £18m man Cameron Archer was central to the play in the final third, caressing in a fine finish for his first goal since moving from Aston Villa, and it was his superb curler that hit the woodwork and went in off Pickford.
But they failed to hang on as Arnaut Danjuma's well-taken finish at the far post drew the visitors level.
Image source, Getty ImagesEx-England striker Peter Crouch on TNT Sports after Sheffield United and Everton recorded their first points of the season with a 2-2 draw: "Unbelievable I do not know how it has stayed out, it was a triple save [on Jordan Pickford's late heroics].
"It was a great game of football, amazing to think this game was in September, it was played in the right way."
Despite earning their first point, Everton have made their joint-worst start to a Premier League season after four games, alongside the 1994-95 campaign.
Sheffield United avoided defeat in a Premier League game in which they conceded first for the first time since a 2-1 win over West Brom in February 2021.
Everton have won just one of their last 12 Premier League games against newly promoted sides (D5 L6), and none of their last seven away from home (D4 L3).
Aged 21 years and 267 days, Sheffield United’s Cameron Archer was the youngest English player to score on his Premier League debut since Matty Longstaff for Newcastle against Man Utd in October 2019 (19y 199d).
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener ended Everton’s run of 316 minutes without scoring in the Premier League, since Doucoure himself netted against Bournemouth on the final day of last season. It was the Toffees’ first goal from their 47th shot of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign.
Sheffield United and Everton contested an entertaining Premier League draw as both sides picked up their first point of the campaign.
The Blades had started the brighter but it was the visitors who took the lead through Abdoulaye Doucoure, poking in a rebound for Everton's first league goal of the campaign.
United responded well with the dangerous Gustavo Hamer forcing Jordan Pickford into a sharp save and they got their reward as Cameron Archer side-footed in to finish off a slick team move.
It got even better for Paul Heckingbottom's side on the stroke of half-time as Archer's arrowed effort hit the post before ricocheting off the unfortunate Pickford and into the net.
But Everton hit back after the break as on-loan Arnaut Danjuma converted from close range via Nathan Patterson's cross to the back post to salvage a point for Sean Dyche's men.
Were you at the match or did you follow it from home?
Sheffield United fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here
There are seven games being played in the Premier League on Saturday and we'll bring you every moment.
Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.
His opponent for this weekend's fixtures is actor and comedian David Earl, star of new film Apocalypse Clown and Manchester United fan.
Sutton's prediction: 0-1
Everton have got better. They got off the mark against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
They need a striker to start scoring as they haven't scored yet in the Premier League. They've created plenty of chances in their home fixtures and I think the 4-0 loss against Aston Villa was a game to forget.
Sean Dyche needs to get off the mark and I think he will get off the mark with three points.
David's prediction: 0-1
Former Manchester City and Tottenham midfielder Michael Brown has been speaking to BBC Sport about what it's like as a player when a new signing arrives in your position: "Devastated. Like if you're goalkeeper - you know full well that if you're at Crystal Palace and Dean Henderson comes in for that amount of money, you know your place has gone.
"I had it as a player at Spurs, every single transfer window I'd get back in the team but they'd keep bringing in another one, another midfielder and another midfielder and you have to be realistic. At some point you have to accept defeat that it's going to happen.
"It's a strange situation. You don't give up, you get in as good a condition as you can and you wait and you generally get an opportunity somewhere, not always but generally something comes along and you get yourself back in and win the manager over and they feel like the trust is there.
"You do need to get out at times, but some players when the window goes they feel sorry for themselves and they just down their training levels because they're not playing. But actually, that three months comes around fast."
Former Manchester City and Tottenham midfielder Michael Brown has been speaking to BBC Sport about a manager's involvement in transfers: "I think it is a well-known fact that until a position is agreed with a football club there isn't supposed to be any contact with the player, but to say that doesn't happen would be telling a lie because it happens all the time.
"The manager tells you how attractive a club is, why they want to sign you, where they want to play you and some of the top managers are best at that. They tell you how they can further your career, where they see you playing and the best ones can actually convince you to sign.
"What's difficult though is where there is a director of football totally involved and the manager has no say on choosing the players. On some occasions that can be difficult and you can see it these days where a player doesn't know if they wanted to sign them or if the manager doesn't play them and says they weren't my signing."
Image source, Getty ImagesJames McAtee said his "emotional connection" with Sheffield United was a factor behind his return to the club.
The 20-year-old midfielder is back at Bramall Lane for another loan spell after his impressive time with the club last season.
"I'm excited to be back and I can't wait to get back out onto the pitch," he said.
"It has been very last-minute, I've kept my head down, trained hard at City and waited to see what was happening. I think the emotional connection with the club and the opportunity to play in the Premier League were big factors in me coming back.
"I got a warm welcome last week when I came back with City - thanks to all the fans for that - and it was a great game. I had mixed emotions, it was a special atmosphere, I was telling my mates about the Greasy Chip Butty song."
Image source, Getty ImagesManchester City midfielder James McAtee has re-joined Sheffield United on a season-long loan.
The 20-year-old played 37 times for the Blades in the Championship last term, helping them win promotion to the Premier League.
He also helped the club reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup but was unable to play in their Wembley defeat against parent club City.
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