Southampton vs. Sheffield United
Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium
Kick off: 1PM
Another unwanted Premier League record awaits Sheffield United this afternoon should they fail to beat Southampton at St Mary’s.
The Blades are without a win in 11 matches this campaign and are bottom of the division, while the Saints returned to winning ways last time out to climb into sixth place.
Only once before in Premier League history – Queens Park Rangers in 2012-13 – has a side failed to win any of their opening 12 fixtures.
Indeed, in English top flight history, only Manchester United in 1930-31 have won as few or fewer points after 11 matches than Sheffield United’s one.
It goes without saying that the Yorkshire outfit are in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory from somewhere, with the gap on 17th place now standing at six points.
That is certainly not an unsurmountable gap at this still early stage, but the Blades are offering little to suggest that their losing run is about to come to an end.
The most recent of their defeats came against Leicester City last weekend, with boyhood Sheffield Wednesday fan Jamie Vardy scoring a last-minute winner at Bramall Lane.
Chris Wilder’s frustration was clear as he accused his players of making bad decisions, referring to errors made by Chris Basham and John Fleck in the build-up to the winner.
United boss Wilder’s job is not at immediate risk, though a run of 15 winless games in all competitions, with 14 ending in defeat, makes you wonder if the time is right for a change.
As for Southampton, they will see this as an opportunity to put back-to-back wins on the board following Monday’s late win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pascal Gross gave Brighton the lead in the first half, but Jannik Vestergaard powered in a header to equalise and Danny Ings scored from the spot late on.
The Saints were given a helping hand by VAR at the Amex Stadium and boss Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted after the game that his side were not at their best.
It was a big victory for Southampton on the back of a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers and 3-2 loss to Manchester United, throwing away a two-goal lead in the latter.
Hasenhuttl’s men did the double over Sheff Utd last season, though they have not won three in a row against the Blades since a run of four on the spin in 1950.
Southampton possible XI: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Djenepo, Adams, Ings.
Sheffield United possible XI: Ramsdale, Basham, Egan, Bryan, Baldock, Lundstram, Berge, Fleck, Lowe, McBurnie, Burke.
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