Sunderland vs Sheffield United – Preview | OneFootball

After back-to-back home games, Sheffield United travel up to the Northeast on New Year’s Day to take on Sunderland.

The home side come into this game after losing away to Stoke City in the 92nd minute. Before that, Sunderland were on their way to three points away at Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day before a 90th minute equaliser. In spite of that, they are still sitting comfortably in the playoff places.

United have not played particularly well this month, and yet they still managed to grind out wins over Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City before losing to Burnley on Boxing Day and then being pegged back by manager-less West Bromwich Albion last Sunday.

Transfer Business

As mentioned in the preview for the reverse fixture at Bramall Lane, Sunderland decided to balance out their young squad by signing veteran Championship players such as Alan Browne and Chris Mepham.

Browne was a player that I hoped the Blades would sign on a free transfer instead of Jamie Shackleton. At 29 years of age, the Irish international has experienced the highs and lows of the Championship for what seems like forever, having been a cornerstone player for Preston North End.

Browne has the ability to play any role in midfield to a very good standard, and he is a leader, which is perhaps something Sunderland were missing last season as they fell down the table in the final half of the campaign. And, his recent injury struggles could be the reason as to why Sunderland have fallen away from the top; since being injured, Sunderland have won just three of their nine games.

Mepham is the other great pick-up on a loan deal. He is a dependable rock at the back, and also has the ball-playing ability to make a team progressive and measured in their approach play. After recording six clean sheets in his first 12 appearances, the Mackem’s have begun to leak goals more regularly – they have now conceded at least one goal in their last seven games.

Team News

The home side will be without some of their most influential players as Chris Rigg, Dan Ballard, Jenson Seelt, Niall Huggins, Alan Browne and Salis Abdul Samed are ruled out. Plus, Forward trio Tommy Watson, Ahmed Abdullahi and Romaine Mundle are also doubts.

The Blades have fitness issues themselves as Harry Souttar has now returned to Leicester City after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury. This is the second season-ending injury the Blades have suffered this term (Oliver Arblaster’s knee injury suffered against Sheffield Wednesday). As well as niggling injuries to Tyrese Campbell, Vinicius Souza and Femi Seriki, United have had to manage the likes of Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies due to illness, whilst Tom Davies and Jack Robinson have both played through illness. Jesurun Rak-Sakyi has been out due to the aforementioned illness floating around the squad, but there is hope he can return to the matchday squad for the trip to Sunderland.

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 29: Jobe Bellingham of Sunderland during the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke City FC and Sunderland AFC at Bet365 Stadium on December 29, 2024 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Sunderland’s Star Player For This Game

With all of the injuries to Sunderland’s key attacking players, Jobe Bellingham will be carrying more of the burden to carve out opportunities for the home side. The 19-year-old has already found the net four times and provided three assists.

Bellingham ranks in the top 10% of Championship midfielders when it comes to non-penalty goals per 90, as well as ranking in the top 5% of Championship midfielders at creating goals via a take-on.

The Blades looked extremely leggy even towards the back end of the first half against West Bromwich Albion, so the last thing United’s midfield would want to face is a team with bundles of energy, in which Jobe is a big reason for that. The young midfielder ranks in the 91st percentile for loose ball recoveries compared to his positional peers in the Championship, and he ranks in the 85th percentile for successful take-ons per 90.

Sheffield United’s Star Player For This Game

Gustavo Hamer giving Sheffield United the lead against Plymouth Argyle with his volley from the edge of the box. (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

Despite having a poor performance, by his lofty standards, against West Brom, the Blades will hope to see Gustavo Hamer conjure up some magic in what could be an extremely stretched game, with both squads being tested to their maximum capacity.

Hamer has match-winning quality in his boots and there is a reason most attacks flow through him. Nevertheless, there is still a question mark regarding his position; does the inverted left-winger role really get the best out of his ability? It does sound silly to even question this when you consider he has five goals and five assists to his name from that position, but I feel like the Blades aren’t getting the absolute best out of his outstanding quality for this division.

Yet, he still ranks in the 91st percentile for expected assists, 93rd percentile for goal-creating actions, and 98th percentile for progressive passes – all compared to attacking midfielders and wide players in the Championship this season, via FBref.

My Prediction

Much like Sheffield United, Sunderland are massively outperforming their xG numbers which suggests they are scoring wonder goals or just being extremely clinical – they have the second-highest conversion rate in the division (12.16%), while United are in the top 10 with a conversion rate of 11.31%, per Opta.

This game features two of the best teams in transition, both offensively (in terms of generating shots) and defensively (in terms of limiting opposition shots). And with both teams struggling with fitness, this game could purely come down to who has the most legs in the middle of the park and who’s naturally the fitter team.

Sheffield United have won the last five league meetings against Sunderland. I’m not overly confident for this one, but I’m going to say history will repeat itself: 1-0 Blades win…