Sheffield United Specials: First League Win, to Break Derby's Record, Fail to Win One Game & More

Sheffield United's start to this Premier League season has been worse than any other Premier League contestant in its history, having now picked up just two points from a possible 51 and losing an almighty 15 games and scoring just eight goals.

This has meant they've also conceded 29 goals in 17 games, which whilst not the most in the league, it does mean they have a dismal -21 goal difference and could end up breaking all the records set by Derby County in that infamous season of 2007/08.

In that year, the Rams accumulated the least points since the introduction of three points for a win and ended the season with 11 points from a possible 114, which remains a league record. At the same time, Derby went on a 32 match winless streak, scored the fewest goals (20), and were also relegated by March 29, which is the earliest of any Premier League team ever.

At the current ratio of points per game, Chris Wilder's men won't just break Derby's record, but smash it out the park, as their two points from 17 games is the worst of any team after this point in the season. Now, with 21 games left to go (61 points), Sheffield United need to find eight points to avoid breaking this record and will likely need to find another 10 from somewhere to avoid relegation.

Right now, both seem near impossible.

In a similar fashion to Derby of 2007/09, Wilder's men could become the only team in the history of top flight English football to never win a league game all season long.

Odds are now at 25/1 for Sheffield United to go the whole Premier League season without recording a single victory, and considering they already have many 'easier' games out the way, this record is certainly closing in. In fact, after Newcastle United next week, the club meet Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Manchester City back-to-back, before meeting fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion, which, if any game, the latter should be their best chance.

Games such as Chelsea, Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United will all then follow in late February/March, before meeting Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers in April.

Thankfully for Wilder, the likes of Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Brom come within these games too, but with clubs such as Southampton, Leicester and Villa all potentially challenging for Europe now rather than relegation, it's tough to see how they register a win anytime soon.

Sheffield United’s next fixture is away to League One side Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup and a win against weaker opposition could be the confidence booster they need to encourage them heading into their next league tie. Their next game in the league is at home to Steve Bruce’s Newcastle, a game they have a good chance of winning on paper, given how the Magpies are also struggling for goals.

Newcastle are too on a winless run, without a win in their last six fixtures, five of which were in the league. That could be made seven when they travel to Arsenal in the FA Cup. Now, in truth, they could be the perfect opponents for Wilder’s men.

Odds are 6/4 for Sheffield United to get their first league win against Newcastle next Tuesday.

Their next task after welcoming Newcastle to Bramall Lane will be to entertain Tottenham at home in their next league encounter.

The Blades did manage to win this fixture last season, six months ago, beating Spurs 3-1 with goals from Sander Berge, Lys Mousset and Oli McBurnie. Jose Mourinho’s men have stepped it up a bit since then though, finding themselves currently in fourth spot and four points off the top two. Harry Kane and Heung Min-Son have been on fire in front of goal lately and will be a difficult ask to keep at bay.

Odds are 8/1 for Sheffield United to pull off an upset and get their first three points of the season against Spurs on the 17th.

Following the game against Spurs, Sheffield United have two tricky fixtures against the two Manchester giants before the tie, on the 2nd of February at home to West Brom. The odds are 3/1 for the Blades to get their first win in this game, which could be even more likely to be the case if they haven’t won by the time this game comes around.

The Baggies are currently just a place above Sheffield United, some way off safety. The appointment of Sam Allardyce looked like a masterstroke when he claimed a point off the champions, Liverpool, in his second match. The following game, however, saw them thrashed 5-0 by Leeds then 4-0 by Arsenal in their last game, showing that Allardyce has more than his work cut out to save West Brom.

If they continue on that kind of form, Sheffield United have a very big chance of winning the tie next month.

If their winless run continues into February, they host a strong Chelsea side at Bramall Lane on the 6th, who too have struggled in their own right over the past few weeks.

Wilder’s men got the better of Lampard’s side last July, just weeks after Project Restart began, hammering them 3-0 in this fixture with a brace from David McGoldrick and an Oli McBurnie strike. Lampard and his new signings have come under scrutiny at times this season and depending on the form both teams find themselves in going into this one, Wilder could get the better of the Chelsea legend again, earning a first win in the process.

It’s a longshot, but odds are 28/1 for Chelsea to be the first team to lose in the league to Sheffield United this season.

At the start of this season, after finishing ninth last campaign, you’d fancy Sheffield United to beat any of the newly promoted teams, but this just hasn’t been the case so far though. In fact, one of the Blades' two points so far came in the reverse fixture, with a late Billy Sharp penalty earning them a draw in October’s meeting against Fulham.

Despite the unwanted records and winless run, Sheffield United have put in a few decent performances but just haven’t been able to get the win. If they haven’t already picked up a win by February 20th, the fixture at Craven Cottage may well be the game they do - odds are now at 12/1 for that to be the case.

By Jordan Edmonds