Hard-earned points against Bournemouth, Fulham and Chelsea may have delayed Sheffield United’s demotion from the top flight, but Saturday’s hosts are still the overwhelming favourites for a swift Championship return after last weekend’s painful Brentford experience.
Oliver Arblaster – the teenage midfielder who has otherwise been a shining light for the Blades – inadvertently diverted Mikkel Damsgaard’s delivery into his own net just past the hour mark, before Frank Onyeka’s strike from a sublime Kevin Schade assist ensured maximum points for the Bees.
While Sheffield United boss Wilder felt that little could separate the two sides throughout the 90, the 56-year-old lamented his side’s lack of cutting edge in key moments as the Blades set another piece of unwanted Premier League history; 84 goals conceded at this stage of the season is the most since the competition’s inception in 1992.
Now 10 points adrift of safety thanks to Nottingham Forest’s draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Blades will remain rooted to the foot of the division even if they come up trumps in Saturday’s cellar contest, which precedes two daunting trips to Manchester United and Newcastle United.
Tottenham Hotspur also lie in wait for Sheffield United on the final weekend, so three points on Saturday is paramount if the Blades are to mount a miraculous escape, but conceding multiple goals in their last seven Premier League home games suggests that such hopes may be far-fetched.
Vincent Kompany took his seat on the naughty step for Burnley’s visit of Brighton, where he served a touchline ban, assistant manager Craig Bellamy temporarily took the reins and comically made most of the post-match headlines by denying the existence of rainbows, seemingly an unintentional mishap in the heat of the moment.
One could forgive the Clarets coach for his head being a bit frazzled, as Saturday’s visitors threw away two points in farcical circumstances against the Seagulls; five minutes after Josh Brownhill’s opener, Arijanet Muric allowed Sander Berge’s backpass to roll underneath his studs and into the back of the net.
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The stone-faced Muric was left to bemoan his second fatal error in as many matches – Everton’s 1-0 triumph over Burnley came after his clearance was closed down by Dominic Calvert-Lewin – and Kompany’s men now sit six points below the safety of 17th place after the goalkeeper’s bizarre blunders.
However, that aforementioned beating at the hands of the Toffees represents the only loss that Burnley have been condemned to in their last six matches, although it is now 24 points dropped from winning positions in the 2023-24 Premier League for the Clarets, second only to Brentford’s 30.
Kompany’s troops are also still waiting for their first clean sheet of 2024, although they kept a shut-out with minimal difficulty during December’s Turf Moor showdown with Sheffield United, whose humiliating 5-0 Lancashire lashing hammered the final nail in Paul Heckingbottom’s coffin.
