Match Preview: Brighton v Sheffield United
Hands up, who thought Sheffield United would be challenging for a European spot at the halfway stage of their first Premier League campaign for 13 years?
Not us, that’s for sure. There were three reasons to be grateful to have the Blades back in the top flight. The first was that Bramall Lane is a brilliant away day we haven’t been lucky enough to experience since 2006.
The second was the Greasy Chip Butty song which pisses over virtually every other football anthem. And the third was that it would be one less relegation place to worry about come May.
Only two of those have turned out to be true. Ex-Albion defender Chris Wilder brings United for their first ever first to Amex with the Blades the success story of the season with a top seven finish a genuine possibility.
An easy three points? Relegation fodder? Forget it. A tough afternoon lies ahead for Graham Potter and the Albion.
A brief history of Sheffield United
Sheffield United were formed in 1889 as an offshoot of Sheffield Cricket Club, designed at giving the cricketers something to do during the winter. They are one of the only clubs in the country to have played for their entire history at one stadium, which probably means you can work out that Bramall Lane used to be a cricket ground as well. In fact, Yorkshire played games there as recently as 1973.
Needless to say, the football side of Sheffield United soon become much more successful than the cricket. The Blades were English champions in 1898 and have a rich tradition in the FA Cup having lifted the trophy in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925, finished runners up in 1901 and 1936 and reached the semi finals in 1961, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2014.
That run to the last four in 2014 was all the more extraordinary given that they were a League One side at the time. The Blades plied their trade in the third tier for six seasons between 2011 and 2017, a barren run for a club of their size.
The decision to appoint local lad Wilder as boss in the summer of 2016 – not the most glamorous of appointments – has proven to be a masterstroke however and two promotions in three years later, they find themselves back in the big time.
Sheffield United this season
United aren’t just back in the big time – they’re thriving. Wilder’s men have spent the entire campaign so far pushing for a top seven spot, an astonishing feat given that they were many people’s idea of relegation fodder at the start of the campaign.
Much of their success has been based around this concept of “overlapping centre backs”. Us Brighton fans think we’ve got it good when Potterball is sending 6’7 Dan Burn scampering up the pitch from left back, but Wilder actively encourages his two centre backs to get up the pitch, pop up in places were they are completely unexpected and cause genuine havoc – as Paul from Vital Blades explained to us.
Not many Championship or Premier League sides have found an answer to this tactical approach yet – although we know a man who has. United haven’t lost on the road since January, when a certain Graham Potter’s Swansea City beat them at the Liberty Stadium. Same again on Saturday, please.
Head-to-head
Brighton and Sheffield United have met 27 times in the past, with all 24 of the previous league meetings coming in the second tier. That’s a remarkable statistic given the ease with which the Albion traditionally slip through the divisions.
The Blades lead the overall head-to-head with 12 wins to Brighton’s nine while there have been six draws thrown in. Games between the two tend to feature plenty of goals, with 31 being scored in the past eight meetings at an average of over four a game. Cue a 0-0.
Brighton’s head-to-head record with Sheffield United
Last six meetings
• Sheffield United 3-1 Brighton (Championship, 21/01/06)
• Brighton 0-1 Sheffield United (Championship, 13/09/05)
• Sheffield United 1-2 Brighton (Championship, 15/01/05)
• Brighton 1-1 Sheffield United (Championship, 02/10/04)
• Sheffield United 2-1 Brighton (Division One, 18/03/03)
• Brighton 2-4 Sheffield United (Division One, 19/10/02)
This will be our first meeting with Sheffield United since 2006. Facebook didn’t exist, talk to someone about Brexit and they’d have thought it was some sort of rash and the Duke of York was famous for marching people up to the top of the hill rather than marching young girls upstairs at parties.
You have to go back even further to 1987 to find the last time that the Albion beat the Blades at home. It was a bittersweet 2-0 victory that day. Danny Wilson and Terry Connor got the goals, but only 5,377 people turned up to the Goldstone and Brighton were relegated in their next fixture.
That attendance figure is shocking for a second tier game and a stark reminder that while the Amex may sell out these days and some Brighton fans love to crow about how well supported we are, that hasn’t always been the case.
Team news
Potter said in his press conference that everyone is fit and available bar long-term absentees Solly March and Jose Izquierdo. Which gives the Albion boss a nice little dilemma as to what to do with Dale Stephens and Aaron Connolly, who are back from suspension and injury respectively.
Given the standard of performance at Selhurst Park on Monday night, it would be harsh to drop anyone to make way for the returning duo. But at the same time, Stephens has been outstanding this season and nobody could have too many complaints if he walked back in.
That would almost certainly be at the expense of Yves Bissouma. Given that the Albion are facing a run of four games in the next 11 days, some players are going to need resting at some point which should make Potter’s decision making a little more justifiable, whichever which way he decides to go.
Sheffield United’s key players
Oliver Norwood, remember him? Chris Hughton signed the midfielder from Reading in the summer of 2016 and he was effectively fourth choice behind Stephens, Beram Kayal and Steve Sidwell in the Championship promotion winning season.
Ask us to name his two most telling contributions to that campaign and we’d say drunkenly crowd surfing down a packed train after we’d beaten Wigan Athletic to secure Premier League football and the time he died his hair and ended up looking like Shirley Carter from EastEnders.
It turns out though that he is actually a bloody good footballer, something that not many Albion fans appreciated at the time. Neither did Fulham seemingly, who also gave Norwood the boot after he’d helped them to promotion. Last season at Bramall Lane was his third consecutive promotion to the top flight and United have finally given him a chance to test himself in the Premier League. Needless to say, he’s enjoying it.
Norwood has even worn the captain’s armband at times. United’s club captain is Billy Sharp, which may come as a surprise to those of us who remember him being physically murdered by a Lewis Dunk tackle in the first ever game at the Amex.
A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Sheffield United at home
Well, we’ve never seen a home win over United so that’s a good start. Their 2004 visit to Withdean was when the Albion wore that “one-off, special edition” dark blue shirt to promote Fatboy Slim’s new album, Palookaville.
Never one to turn his nose up at a money-making opportunity – although he never went as far as charging £3.20 for a bag of Starburst – Dick Knight then decided that the one-off kit should become the club’s third choice strip so it could be flogged to supporters. This proved to be a wonderful decision as it remains one of our favourite Albion away numbers of all time.
A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Sheffield United at home?
Two words. Phil Prosser. It was very apt that his name rhymed with tosser, although following his decision to award United two penalties in the final 10 minutes of our clash at Withdean in 2002, Phil Munt might have been more appropriate.
Our favourite player to play for Brighton and Sheffield United
Danny Cullip was a man deserving of a better stage than Withdean to show his undoubted defensive talents. That it took five years for somebody to match the Albion’s asking price was something of a surprise, with Sheffield United eventually taking him to Bramall Lane in 2004.
Unfortunately for Cullip, it was a short lived experience. The rumour went that he didn’t get on with Neil Warnock and this ultimately culminated in Cullip pinning Warnock up against the wall of his office by his throat. Forget Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury, Cullip v Warnock is the fight we want to see.
What we like about Sheffield United
Sheffield United have one of the best pools of celebrity fans going. Not only is Sean Bean a die hard Blade, but the lovely Jessica Ennis had a stand at Bramall Lane named after her. Robert Carlyle’s character in the Full Monty was also a United fan, with that film set in the city being one of the best British movies ever made. And no, that’s not just because a load of men take their clothes off.
Prediction
United’s away record is impressive and the Albion seem to love a draw at the minute. Combine the two and you’ve got an enthralling 2-2.
