A look into the start of the season for Sheffield United: What do the numbers tell us? | OneFootball

When Sheffield United return from the international break, they have a crucial opportunity to seize the top spot in the Championship.

Currently sitting second, level on 19 points with league leaders Sunderland, despite beginning the season on minus two points, the Blades can jump to first place with a draw or better in their upcoming clash against Leeds United on October 18th. This match could mark a pivotal moment in the push for promotion.

We’re now three months into the season and the Blades are the only remaining unbeaten team out of the Championship, League One, and League Two.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Harry Souttar of Sheffield United reacts during the Carabao Cup First Round match between Sheffield United and Wrexham at Bramall Lane on August 13, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Sheffield United are absolutely solid at the back

In a stark contrast from last season where United conceded 104 goals in a dire attempt to stay in the Premier League, the Blades have conceded just three times in the Championship, and they are yet to concede a single goal since Michael Cooper, Harry Souttar and Anel Ahmedhodzic have started together.

The two centre-back’s have blocked and cleared pretty much everything that’s come their way. And if they haven’t made contact with the ball, it’s been the man between the sticks, Cooper, to either claim the cross, punch it clear, or come up with some excellent saves.

There was a critical weakness observed in Sheffield United’s defenders last season in the Premier League: they struggled in aerial battles; they averaged a 46% aerial win rate per game. Now, nine games into the Championship and they are the second-best team in the division in terms of aerial win percentage (55%).

Not only are the Blades facing 8.5 shots per game, third-best in the league, the shots they are facing are only generating 0.08 xG per shot taken, which is the joint-best. Almost half of the shots that United are facing are coming from set-pieces.

Chris Wilder’s men are currently riding a streak of six clean sheets in a row and they can close in on a historic record if they keep Leeds out next Friday. The record for most consecutive clean sheets in the Championship is nine. It was set by Reading during the 2005/06 season, where they lifted the trophy that term. United came second under Neil Warnock.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi scores his second goal of the game, and his second of the season, against Luton Town, which ultimately led to Sheffield United winning 2-0.

Is United’s attack sharp enough?

Before the 2-0 win against Luton Town, United were creating an average of 1.6 big chances per game, missing 1.4 of those. The positive of course is that there is plenty of room for improvement, and slowly but surely the goals will start to fly in.

The Blades are averaging the fourth-most total shots per game in the Championship (13.8), and the sixth-most shots on target per game (4.4).

In nine games, United have scored 12 goals, whilst accumulating 11.1 expected goals. On the flip side, they have conceded three actual goals, with the expected goals against tallying 6.4. The numbers suggest, overall, they are performing as expected in front of goal, but, some excellent long range strikes have balanced out some of the glorious chances that have been squandered. Whereas, defensively, they are slightly overperforming.

The quality of chances in which the Blades are shooting from has registered an xG of 0.09 per shot – this sees them ranked joint-third bottom, along with the likes of Burnley, Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday. As the numbers suggest, we do need to start carving out “easier” opportunities and actually shooting from them; too often we’ve seen attacks break down because of an extra couple of passes or touches, rather than pulling the trigger.

Coming into the season, one thing I was very excited about was United’s set-pieces; for the first time in forever, the Blades have not one, but two, genuine dead ball specialists (Harrison Burrows and Gustavo Hamer).

To go with the excellent outswinging and inswinging deliveries, we also have some towering players to aim for: Ahmedhodzic, Souttar, Kieffer Moore and even Vinicius Souza. So far, United are averaging 0.32 xG per game from set-pieces, which is in the top six in the Championship. If the Blades maintain that number, you’d expect their goal tally to shoot up from set-pieces alone.

I’ve gone on record calling this attack “star-studded”, and I truly believe this is one of the most well-rounded attacks in the Championship in recent times. We have the ability to play directly into players, in behind or down the channels for runners. Also, we can play a fast-paced game from turnovers (which right now I think is our biggest strength), but we can also play patiently in the final third.

I find it really interesting how, according to Opta, the Blades rank third for touches in and around the opposition box per game, as well as third for fast-break shots (1.11 per game). Additionally, they rank third for fast-break goals, 0.33 per game. In this case, the stats match up with the eye test, and it’s a great thing for a football team to be diverse offensively because they can hurt you in more than one way.

PRESTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Sheffield United players celebrate following the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End FC and Sheffield United FC at Deepdale.

Are Sheffield United in a true position in the table?

After starting with a two-point deduction, Chris Wilder has got the Blades on 19 points in nine games, which is enough to be currently second in the league. Now, according to all of the “expected” statistics, the Blades should actually be on 16 points, and therefore in 5th, which isn’t a big drop-off at all, compared to Watford, who’s actual position is 6th, but their expected position is 19th – indicating they are massively overperforming points wise.

On the flip side, you look at someone like Coventry City, who are down in 20th in reality, but they should be 8th according to the expected result totals.