Teams evidently get more joy in attack than usual and in contrast, they are much more comfortable in defence.

That paints a very disturbing picture if you’re a Sheffield United fan. West Ham managed to total their third-highest xG and least xGA, when playing the Blades. Newcastle recorded their highest xG of the season and their third-lowest xGA. Spurs managed to total their second-best xG against United while recording their lowest xGA. Nottingham Forest were next up and they registered their highest xG and lowest xGA of the season. Going back to the first match of the season, Crystal Palace recorded their second-highest xG of the campaign and conceded their least expected goals against so far when playing the Blades. They created their highest expected goals (2.2). Teams love playing the Bladesīefore gameweek eight, Fulham only saw one match this term where they conceded less than one xG, now they have two. The Blades have already made four errors leading to shots on target, the fourth-most.Īdditionally, United pose the second-worst team in aerial duels with Bournemouth being the worst in the league. While they record the highest number of blocks, which is all well and good but that just means the defence is being forced into making last-ditch attempts because of how exposed they are. Sheffield United’s tackling percentage is the second-worst in the Premier League. The Cottagers highest xG before gameweek eight was 1.5, they created 2.2 xG against Heckingbottom’s team. They have been very average this season, but against United they looked almost unstoppable in attack. Whenever the opposition attacks, no matter who, there is a noticeable panic in the ranks and that is far from healthy. If you want to stay in the Premier League you have to firstly make sure you can keep the ball out of the back of your net, and the Blades can’t do that. The two players mentioned above are performing roughly six of the 14 actions between them per game. Sheffield United are the only team in the division to average less than 15 shot-creating actions per game. But why? The Blades have some off-the-cuff type creative players such as James McAtee and Gustavo Hamer. Meanwhile they record just 20 final third passes per game and the lowest key passes in the league, resulting in the lowest xG by far. Heckingbottom’s men are averaging the lowest progressive passes (23 per game) and lowest progressive carries (7 per game) in the league per FBref.

Through eight games, the Blades have scored just six goals while conceding 22, but the problems are more underlying than that. Pressure is mounting up on Paul Heckingbottom to dig his team out of the hole they find themselves in. LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Paul Heckingbottom of Sheffield United during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Sheffield United at London Stadium on Septemin London, England. George (knee) is expected to miss the Clippers' entire first-round playoff series against the Suns, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. Makes great use of his excellent hands, wingspan, and footwork to both find his shot offensively and make life hard on opponents defensively.

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