Sheffield United and Leeds United are interested in Everton defender Ben Godfrey, but the 26-year-old could also be an option for Serie A side AC Milan. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external
Image source, Getty ImagesJoe Rindl, BBC Sport
Despite scoring their late leveller, Sheffield United still remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, seven points off safety.
No team has ever survived with fewer points in the Premier League at this stage of the season, but there were plenty of reasons to be cheerful for Blades supporters.
Villarreal loannee Ben Brereton Diaz, playing in his second match for the hosts, scored his first goal in 29 games for club and country.
Meanwhile, Oli McBurnie's late equaliser helped the substitute become the first Blades player to score in four consecutive home top-flight matches.
"I think we deserved a result today," Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder told BBC Match of the Day. "Not just from our attitude but from our play as well."
Going forward, Wilder's side are capable of finding the net. Defensively though, problems still exist.
After Maxwel Cornet's opener they became only the third team to concede 50 goals after 21 games or fewer in a Premier League campaign, emulating Barnsley in 1997-98 and West Brom in 2020-21.
Image source, Getty ImagesSheffield United manager Chris Wilder talking to TNT Sports: "That is the least we deserved, I thought we were really good. My side has character, resilience and a bit of bottle.
"We have to bridge the gap and we have some good players. We had to go more direct at points but we were more than that today.
"I felt we had control of the game and for Ben to get a goal, he will be an asset for us. It has been a decent day for us.
"David Moyes will say he has had decisions go against him but I don't think that should have been a red card for Brewster. Their keeper makes an unbelievably rash decision to come out and we get rewards."
This was the first Premier League game since Boxing Day 2007 between Chelsea and Aston Villa to have both sides see at least one player sent off and both sides receive at least one penalty each.
Oli McBurnie's equalising penalty for Sheffield United (102:07) was the latest goal scored on record in the Premier League (since 2006-07).
Since losing to Nottingham Forest in August 2022, West Ham are unbeaten in their past nine Premier League matches against newly promoted sides (W8 D1).
James Ward-Prowse has now registered at least 10 goal involvements in each of his past four Premier League seasons, scoring four goals and assisting six for West Ham in 2023-24. Of players with 50+ goals in the competition, he has the highest proportion via direct free kicks (17) and penalties (14) at 58% (31/53).
Ben Brereton Diaz was the third different debutant to score for Sheffield United in the league this season, alongside Gustavo Hamer and Cameron Archer. The Blades had only had five different debutants score in their five previous Premier League campaigns before 2023-24.
Rhian Brewster (23y 295d) is the second-youngest player to be sent off for Sheffield United in the Premier League, behind only David Tuttle against Southampton in October 1993 (21y 122d).
Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie scored a 103rd-minute penalty to rescue a point for the Premier League's bottom side against West Ham United.
Sheffield United were awarded the spot-kick in the 98th minute when Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola took out McBurnie.
And having been made to wait to take his spot-kick, the forward smashed his effort beyond substitute stopper Lukasz Fabianski with Areola forced to leave the pitch after receiving treatment.
West Ham had been cruising towards a 2-1 victory after James Ward-Prowse's successful penalty in the 79th minute.
Maxwel Cornet had given the Hammers a first-half lead with his first goal for the club before Ben Brereton Diaz equalised on the stroke of half-time on his Premier League debut.
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Image source, Getty ImagesChris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.
The winter break means the current set of fixtures are staggered over a two-week period. For part two of week 21, he takes on singer-songwriter and Arsenal fan JayO.
Sutton's prediction: 1-1
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder decided not to take his squad to warmer climes during their winter break, and his message to his players is that only hard graft will get them out of trouble now.
The Blades are bottom of the Premier League and eight points adrift of safety, so they have got a heck of a lot of work to do.
Their schedule last month meant Wilder did not get much time on the training pitch with his players after taking charge at the start of December, so at least he has had a chance to do that in the past couple of weeks.
It will be interesting to see what difference it makes, because their position means they need results quickly.
They are the lowest scorers in the top flight so they also need goals, which is why they have brought in Ben Brereton Diaz on loan from Villarreal, but it's going to be hard for them to break West Ham down.
The Hammers will be smarting after Tuesday's FA Cup defeat to Bristol City but they did make a few changes for that game, and I just don't see them being beaten again here.
Neither side have a possession-based style of play, so they won't particularly want the ball. It is going to be tight, and it's got draw written all over it.
JayO's prediction: 0-3
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against West Ham United.
Here are the main lines from his news conference:
Wilder confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns, adding that the team are "in a really good place".
Tom Davies and Rhys Norrington-Davies are back training on grass, while Rhian Brewster is continuing to build his minutes.
Wilder says new loan signing Ben Brereton Diaz "has livened everyone up", adding: "We’re delighted with what he has produced on the training ground."
On the possibility of more signings before the transfer window closes, he said: "We’ve worked hard in identifying a couple of new signings. We believe that, when the window shuts, there will be a feeling that we are in a better place than when it opened."
In response to defender Anel Ahmedhodzic being linked with Napoli, Wilder said: "Speculation about a good player is a good thing - you want to be spoken about. I haven’t been told from above it’s a potential transfer. The player has to get his head down and carry on. Good players have to deal with speculation."
Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences
West Ham have won their past 11 Premier League games against the side starting the day bottom of the table, including a 2-0 win over Sheffield United in the reverse fixture in September.
Sheffield United have conceded the first goal in a league-high 16 Premier League games this season, while only Tottenham (five) and Arsenal (six) have conceded first less often than West Ham (7).
West Ham have kept a clean sheet in each of their past four Premier League games, despite facing 77 shots across these matches. They last kept five consecutive league clean sheets in the 1990-91 season.
After averaging 2.8 goals conceded, 19.0 shots faced, and 2.23 expected goals against (xGA) per game in their 14 Premier League matches under Paul Heckingbottom this season, Sheffield United have since
reduced those averages to 1.7 goals conceded, 13.7 shots faced, and 1.52 xGA per game in six league fixtures since Chris Wilder’s return to the club.
However, the Blades United have conceded a league-high 13 Premier League goals from crosses this season. Meanwhile, no player has assisted more goals via a cross this term than West Ham’s James Ward-Prowse (5).
Oli McBurnie has scored in each of his past three home Premier League appearances for Sheffield United, a club record for consecutive scoring appearances at Bramall Lane in the competition, but has ended on the
losing side in all three games. He’s the only player in Premier League history to achieve this unfortunate feat for any club.
Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external
After a summer where Sheffield United sold two of the stars of our promotion season due to them entering the final years of their contract, the Blades have shown a willingness to prevent this situation from happening again by giving new deals to younger players – much to my relief.
Not only are there positive noises about a possible u-turn on striker Dan Jebbison's contract stance, but the club this week extended the contract of teenage forward Antwoine Hackford and 20-year-old midfielder Andre Brooks. That comes just a few months after the Blades tied down Will Osula and highly-rated Louie Marsh to long-term deals.
The Brooks contract is particularly well-deserved, with the local lad parachuted into the team by Chris Wilder in an attempt to give the side a spark. He hasn't lit the Premier League alight – unsurprising considering the Liverpool game in December was his first ever league start – but he hasn't looked out of place either, to his immense credit.
Playing in a struggling side in the top flight and not looking out of his depth feels like a fantastic baseline for a player who still has plenty of room to refine and develop his game.
It's a relief to know that that development will now continue to take place with his hometown club, along with a clutch of other promising youngsters at Bramall Lane.
Sheffield United are interested in 26-year-old Bournemouth and Wales defender Chris Mepham. (Sun), external
