Sheffield United vs Stoke City – Preview | OneFootball

After two consecutive away defeats, Sheffield United will be glad to return to Bramall Lane to face Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.

The Blades haven’t looked remotely good from an offensive point of view in the last two games, firing blanks against both Leeds United and Middlesbrough.

Meanwhile, Stoke City come into this weekend’s contest after back-to-back score draws at home against Norwich City and Bristol City. The Potters have scored just one goal on their travels in the Championship, and that came back in August.

Transfer business

Stoke City had a great summer window, even signing some of United’s transfer targets.

Firstly, the acquisition of Viktor Johansson between the sticks was a no brainer; he has already prevented over six goals in the Championship, but he is conceding over one goal per game.

Another signing I like from them is Lewis Koumas, the teenager on loan from Liverpool. The attacking midfielder has been a key part of Stoke’s starting eleven so far, and he has reaped his rewards with two goals and an assist in eight starts.

Stoke’s best signing in my opinion was the loan deal to bring Tom Cannon to the club, and he was another player, like Johansson, that was linked with the Blades. The Leicester City loanee has already bagged four goals and added an assist in seven Championship appearances.

Team news

Chris Wilder will not have Gustavo Hamer for selection on Saturday after he picked up a one-match ban because of an accumulation of bookings. However, Vinicius Souza will be available again after serving his suspension.

Narcis Pelach has stated to Stoke Sentinel that Wouter Burger could be available for selection for the trip to South Yorkshire after he missed out in midweek for the Potters.

Sheffield United’s star player for this match

Five of the last ten goals Stoke City have conceded have been scored by central midfielders, with four of them making late runs into the box for crosses/cutbacks. This sounds to me like an area where Oliver Arblaster can exploit, especially with the more defensive-minded Vinicius Souza likely partnering up with him in midfield; this would allow Arblaster to fly forward a lot more.

Arblaster has already scored two goals from cutbacks to in and around the edge of the box, and he’s also won a penalty. To add, the current Blades captain is averaging the second-most key passes per game in United’s squad, and with Gustavo Hamer out, players like Arblaster will need to step up in his place to be a creative source.

SWANSEA, WALES – OCTOBER 05: Tom Cannon of Stoke City applauds the fans after the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City AFC and Stoke City FC at Swansea.com Stadium on October 05, 2024 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Stoke City’s star player for this match

Given that two players who like to play on the shoulder of defenders have scored in back-to-back games against the Blades, you have to feel that they will have a heavy focus on stopping Tom Cannon.

Cannon has scored four goals, all in the same game against Portsmouth, from an expected goals tally of 2.68. He did register his first assist last time out against Bristol City. Additionally, he is averaging the second-most shots on target per game in the Championship. One thing that he is struggling with though is duels, he has won just 39% of his duels.

My view

Sheffield United need to change things up in attack. They have no choice but to make a change for Hamer, but I think it’s time to see a change for Callum O’Hare and maybe Kieffer Moore as well. O’Hare is out of form right now, and I think playing him further is only damaging his confidence even more. You can see he has no confidence in himself when he’s isolated with a defender, and his first thought when receiving the ball in the pocket in midfield is to play it backwards.

With Moore, I just don’t see the point in playing him if you aren’t going to play to his strengths – the lack of crosses and quality we put into the box has to be annoying the Welsh international. He has fed off scraps for the last few weeks.

The Blades need to get pace and trickery on the pitch to start worrying teams, because Leeds, and Middlesbrough, for the entire second half, had an easy ride. About a month ago I claimed we have the most well-balanced attacking combinations in the league, I regret saying that now because right now we look basic.

Sheffield United and Stoke City are almost even in xG per game, the Blades create 1.25xG compared to 1.20 for the Potters. They’re also very similar at converting chances; United have a 9.76% conversion rate as opposed to Stoke’s 9.09%.

One aspect of attack where the home side are superior is attacking set-pieces; they create 0.32 xG per game from set-pieces alone, one of the better teams in the league, whereas Stoke rank third-worst in the league. Defensively, Stoke are also one of the worst teams in the league at set-pieces, conceding 0.42 xG per game from them. Perhaps this could be something that the Blades take advantage of, especially Harry Souttar against his former club.

My prediction

I expected the Leeds United game to be pretty much exactly how it turned out, in terms of pattern of play, but I did expect the Blades to be far better in transition. I also expected Middlesbrough to dominate possession, but again, I thought United would be better in the final third and score a couple of goals at least.

I do think this weekend this is the perfect game to come after two bad results. Stoke give up 1.11 shots on fast-breaks per game, and that’s the same number the Blades register in attack. Evidently, the home side have a big advantage in transition and in set-pieces, so if Sheffield United can’t look good against Stoke City then it’s time to worry.

My prediction is a clear Sheffield United victory, and a clean sheet looks likely given Stoke haven’t scored on their travels in the league since late August.