(Football news) After losing their opening games of the campaign, the hosts are now stuck at the bottom of the table, while Manchester United are wallowing in 10th position and are now eight points behind the leaders.
Sheffield United, who has only managed one point from their first eight games since winning promotion from the Championship, is one of just two Premier League teams, along with Bournemouth, that have yet to enjoy a victory this season.
Before the international break, the Blades were condemned to their seventh league defeat of the season as Fulham defeated them 3-1 at Craven Cottage. However, the game was tainted by Chris Basham’s horrific lower-leg injury, which will require him to miss a significant amount of time due to two surgeries.
When Sheffield loses on Saturday, they will become the first club in the history of the English premier league to have only one point or fewer from their first nine games of successive seasons—a feat last accomplished in 2020–21. No team promoted to the Premier League has ever started the season worse than Sheffield has thus far. And yet Paul Heckingbottom has told his team to “enjoy” the challenges that come with playing in the Premier League and to “enjoy the problems” that come with it.
Sheffield has given up a league-high 22 goals in eight games, conceding two or more goals in each of their past seven games. Despite their dismal start, they are only three points outside of safety, but defensive changes are needed if they are to put an end to their ordeal.
Not only is Heckingbottom the Premier League manager under pressure to produce results, but Erik ten Hag of Manchester United has also had a difficult start to the new season. After the club suffered four losses in their first seven games, the Dutchman presided over the team’s worst-ever start to a top-flight season in 34 years.
Manchester United were headed for another disappointing home loss to Brentford before the international break after losing their next two games at Old Trafford to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray in the Premier League and Champions League, respectively. However, substitute Scott McTominay dramatically came to the rescue, scoring two goals in second-half stoppage time to snatch all three points in a 2-1 victory.
In the midst of the club’s ongoing ownership drama, which has seen Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim pull out of his multibillion-pound offer and Sir Jim Ratcliffe get closer to owning a 25% share, Manchester United needs to start playing well in order to try and get closer to Liverpool, who is currently in fourth place, who is five points ahead of them in the standings.
Manchester United’s patchy performance at home is concerning, but they have also performed poorly away from home. Last month, they lost on the road to Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich before narrowly winning 1-0 at newly promoted Burnley.
Although Manchester United hasn’t won a top-flight away game in 2023, they will be confident in their prospects this weekend against Sheffield United, given they’ve won their previous nine league games against promoted opponents and their previous six away from home.
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