Brentford are looking to bounce back from defeat on the road against Brighton and Hove Albion as they take on Sheffield United this weekend.
Saturday's fixture has an added complication with the home side dismissing manager Paul Heckingbottom earlier in the week. Boyhood Blade Chris Wilder returned to the role on Tuesday, a post he previously held from 2016 to 2021.
Sheffield United were much improved midweek and gave Liverpool a tough time of things at Bramall Lane, showing a resilience that the side currently bottom of the league have been missing so far this season.
Pre-match Analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford should create chances at Bramall Lane
Sheffield United fans may feel a little hard done by on refereeing decisions for both goals in their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, with an apparent push by Virgil van Dijk in the area before the Reds’ opener and a wild-looking challenge from Darwin Núñez that led to the second both ignored by the referee.
"I wanted to make it an uncomfortable night for them," Chris Wilder said afterwards.
They did exactly that, with the manager admitting he was “disappointed” not to get anything from the game.
So while there was no 'new manager bounce' (or 'old manager bounce' in this case) in the final result, the performance on the pitch demonstrated that Thomas Frank's team may find their trip to south Yorkshire more difficult than expected.
Or maybe a tricky trip is expected; when the two sides have faced off in recent years, both in the Championship and League One, the Bees weren't able to pick up a win at Bramall Lane.
In fact, you'd have to go all the way back to 1982 for the last time Brentford won away to Sheffield United: a 2-1 victory in the old Third Division.
On top of that, injuries continue to be a problem with Bryan Mbeumo, who scored Brentford's goal against Brighton, the latest player to pick up a knock.
However, with or without Mbeumo, Brentford can expect to have chances against Sheffield United.
The Blades remain the team to have conceded the most shots per game on average this season (18.7) while at the other end having the lowest average number of shots themselves (just 8.5 per game).
Against Liverpool, United retained just 24 per cent of possession and ended up with just a single shot on target, while conceding eight on their own goal.
More than anything, perhaps, Wilder will want the Blades to pose opponents more questions, as they have lacked variety as well as cutting edge this season.
For example, they have made fewer switches of play (21), completed fewer crosses (161), won fewer corners (49) and completed fewer shot-creating actions (198) than any team in the Premier League this season, and they are yet to score a goal after a successful take-on.
The Bees should no doubt enter the contest with a healthy amount of confidence - but now seems a dangerous time to play a team with plenty to prove, and plenty of ground to make up.
Scout Report
Heckingbottom dismissed: Blades roll the dice after disappointing start
Once Burnley got into their scintillating stride last season, Sheffield United had little hope of catching Vincent Kompany and his troops. Rarely since the 2004 rebrand has a team looked more certain to get promoted out of the Championship.
But, then again, the same could be said for the Blades and the chasing pack.
As runners-up, they finished 11 points clear of eventual play-off winners Luton Town in third, with the second-best home form in the division and third-best away form.
Sheffield United rarely looked like slipping up and, from November onwards, they never once dropped out of the automatic promotion places. Iliman Ndiaye was exquisite and improving with each passing game; at times, Oli McBurnie looked back to his very best.
Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades even reached the semi-final of the FA for the 15th time in club history, where they were beaten - but not outclassed – by Manchester City, who would go on to win the competition.
A return to the Premier League was most welcome at Bramall Lane.
After 12 seasons away, Sheffield United competed in the top flight in 2019/20 and, as a relatively unknown entity, battled their way to a ninth-place finish – their highest placing since the formation of the competition in 1992.
The chance to do something similar would have been ideal, but the reality is that hopes were already pretty much over before they had even really got going.
It did not help that club legend Billy Sharp was surprisingly released earlier this summer. At 37, perhaps the Premier League is a step too far, but as a boyhood Blade who ‘gets it’, his absence has no doubt been felt.
Ndiaye left for Marseille, with a £20 million offer “reluctantly accepted” by the club, just as reports had surfaced that he had been offered a new deal to remain in the Steel City. Ample replacements were signed in their places, but in truth, Heckingbottom probably needed further backing in the summer.
As a result, on the pitch, this season has been one of sheer misery. The Blades have won one, drawn two and lost 12 of their 14 games so far. There have been two 5-0 defeats, one 8-0 defeat and just 11 goals scored.
If that was not enough, they have shipped an incredible 41 goals already, which equates to an average of 2.79 goals per game. If they continue at that rate, they will set a new, unwanted, Premier League record of 106 goals conceded in a single 38-game season, bypassing Derby County’s 89 conceded in 2007/08 by some way.
A crushing 5-0 defeat away against last season’s closest competitors Burnley last weekend saw Heckingbottom’s reign come to an end after three and a half years on Tuesday, with cult hero Chris Wilder rapidly installed as his successor, as owner Prince Abdullah revealed on talkSPORT before the club had even announced the news.
There is sure to be a new manager bounce brought by the 56-year-old, but has it come early enough to see the Blades mount a challenge to preserve their top-flight status again? Four points separate them from safety with 23 games left to play.
In the Dugout
Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder the player – a right-back by trade – started out at his beloved Sheffield United after leaving Southampton in 1986.
Alongside Brentford legend Bob Booker, he was part of the Blades squad that achieved promotion from the Third Division to the First between 1988 and 1990.
Wilder would later play mostly in the First and Second Divisions for Rotherham United, Notts County and Bradford City, before retiring at Halifax Town in 2000/01.
In October 2001, Wilder started out in management at Alfreton Town, before six years back at Halifax and another five years at Oxford United, who he led out of the Conference in 2010.
In January 2014, he took over at Northampton and, in his second season at Sixfields, won the League Two title with the Cobblers.
By far his most notable work, however, came in the five years he spent back at Sheffield United.
The boyhood Blade led the club back to the Championship, after a six-season exile, in his first season in charge (2016/17) and, in 2018/19, Wilder and his overlapping centre-backs took United back to the Premier League. It was fairytale stuff.
But there was to be no happy ending as, with Sheffield United bottom of the Premier League, he departed in March 2021, shortly before relegation out of the top flight was confirmed.
In November 2021, Wilder returned to management by taking over from Neil Warnock at Middlesbrough. Boro were 14th in the Championship when he was appointed, and though he transformed their fortunes, four defeats in their final eight league games saw them miss out on the play-offs by only five points.
Middlesbrough struggled to get going at the start of last season, which led to his sacking on 3 October.
Wilder’s most recent role was at Watford, who he took charge of for the final 11 Championship games of last term, following Slaven Bilić’s sacking. His short-term deal came to an end after a win over Stoke on the final day and he was out of work for just six months before making a return to Bramall Lane earlier this week.
The Gameplan
With Andy Giddings, sports editor at BBC Radio Sheffield
Andy Giddings, sports editor at BBC Radio Sheffield, explains how Chris Wilder is likely to set up his side for the game against Brentford on Saturday:
“While Wilder is known for 3-5-2 and attacking, overlapping centre-backs, even throughout his time at Sheffield United, that was not always the case and depended on the challenge they faced.
“Against Liverpool, it was a back four and I see no reason why that would change for the Brentford game.
“In one respect, it covers the problems they were having out wide, with a lot of teams exploiting the space in that area between the wing-back and centre-half – they were making hay and the sun always seemed to shine.
“There will be three in midfield, a floater in James McAtee and then two up front.
“If that is replicated, even though the personnel might be different, that is the only snapshot we have of the new Sheffield United.”
Read the full interview with Andy Giddings here
Team News
Mbeumo ruled out; Jensen to be assessed
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has issued a squad update ahead of Brentford’s trip to Sheffield United.
Bryan Mbeumo, who has 11 goal contributions in 15 Premier League games this campaign, limped off during the Bees' 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday night and won't feature at Bramall Lane.
"It is bad," Frank responded when asked about Mbeumo’s injury. "He’ll have a scan later, but we don’t know the exact number of weeks he will be out.
"He will definitely not play on Saturday, and he will be out for weeks. We will know more in the next couple of days."
The Bees boss added: "The positive news is that [Mikkel] Damsgaard got minutes [against Brighton] and is looking better and better.
"[Mathias] Jensen will be a decision I need to make in the next 24 hours, whether I want to push him to be ready or be a little more cautious and have him ready for Villa. I will assess him in the next 24 hours."
Match Officials
Attwell the man in the middle
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistants: Neil Davies and Wade Smith
Fourth Official: Darren England
Video Assistant Referee: Robert Jones
On 25 June 2008, Stuart Attwell was promoted to the Premier League’s officials list after just one season in the Football League.
This made him the youngest-ever Premier League referee at 25 years of age.
Attwell’s last Brentford assignment in August 2022 was a memorable one, as the Bees beat Manchester United 4-0 at Gtech Community Stadium.
Attwell has refereed 12 games this season, showing 43 yellow cards and two reds.
Last Meeting
Sheffield United 2 Brentford 0 (Sky Bet Championship, 12 March 2019)
Sheffield United ran out 2-0 winners at Bramall Lane despite being down to 10 players for more than half of their win over Brentford.
The Blades took the lead midway through the first half when Yoann Barbet fouled George Baldock inside the box and Oliver Norwood converted from 12 yards.
Gary Madine was sent off with barely half an hour played for lunging in from behind on Ezri Konsa.
The Bees had chances to level - Kamohelo Mokotjo’s shot that struck the post was one of 29 efforts on goal - before David McGoldrick's header wrapped up the points for United.
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