GW 14: Wolves vs. Sheffield United

Wolves vs. Sheffield United

The 2019/20 Premier League season has been full of surprises thus far, and with a number of the bigger clubs falling down the league table, space has opened up for sides who would have been expected to finish in the bottom half. Two sides who have really caught the eye up to this point are Wolves and Sheffield United, who are set to face on matchweek 14. At the moment, these teams sit in 5th and 6th respectively, as Wolves have a 1 point lead over their upcoming opponents. While Wolves are relatively used to this position, having finished in a Europa League spot last year, this is an entirely new experience for this Sheffield United side who have just recently been promoted into the Premier League. In truth, both of these sides have spent most of their time in the Championship, or even further down the English leagues, but they have managed to adapt their game to the pace of the Premier League flawlessly. These sides have never played against each other in the Premier League; however, they have often been matched up in other divisions. The last team these two teams faced was in the 2017/18 Championship season, in which Wolves came out on top 3-0. Now, on a much bigger stage, it will be interesting to see which team will be able to deliver success, and keep their European dreams going.

Wolves

Wolves have yet again found themselves high up the table, despite the rocky start that they endured. While the opening weeks of the season proved difficult for Nuno Espirito Santo and his men, they have rebounded brilliantly, proving their quality at the top level. Wolves actually failed to win in each of their first 6 Premier League matches this season, but having found their feet again, they are now unbeaten in their last 8. Even more recently, they have won both of their last 2 Premier League matches, and it’s this recent form that has propelled them ahead of Sheffield United in the league table. Wolves have always been a better defensive side than offensive side in the Premier League, and this is backed up by expected goals. Defensively, they are ranked as the 7th best team in the league; however, offensively, they rank 12th.

Nuno Espirito Santo prides himself on putting together an organized defensive system, with the aim of creating high quality chances on the break. Santo consistently uses a three at the back formation, but with the early season woes that Wolves endured, he has now switched from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-3. Although tactically and stylistically Wolves play incredibly similarly to Sheffield United, this formation is a slight tactical difference that could give Wolves an advantage. Chris Wilder employs a 3-5-2 formation with Sheffield United, meaning Wolves will have an extra man on each wing. If their wing-backs push forwards, as they usually do, Wolves could look to create two on one situations on the wings, and potentially cause trouble in the wide areas. With the system that Sheffield employ, you feel that Wolves will be less effective on the counter-attack than usual, and they’ll have to look for ways to break through Sheffield’s deep block.

On the right wing, Adama Traore has been rejuvenated this campaign, and he could be crucial in this match. His recent form has been unreal, and is one of the main reasons that Wolves have found themselves so far up the league table. In 922 Premier League minutes, Traore has scored 2 goals as well as assisting 3, which averages out to a goal contribution every 184 minutes. This is excellent for the man who has played at both right-wingback and right-wing this season. While his goal contribution numbers are impressive, perhaps more important is the general energy that he brings to the side. The Spaniard is currently averaging an incredible 4.1 successful dribbles per 90, as his pace and power continuously open up defences. Against a relatively defensive Sheffield United side, you would expect Wolves to dominate possession, not something that they are suited to. However, Adama Traore’s explosive abilities down the right hand side could be enough to open up this organized Sheffield block.

Interestingly, this period of form for Traore has coincided with Raul Jimenez getting back to his best. Jimenez, like much of the Wolves team, struggled to find his form at the beginning of the season. Now though, he is back to where he was last season, and he is consistently coming up with crucial goals. Much of this current form is likely down to Traore, as the two have struck up a great partnership in attack. Jimenez has now scored or assisted in 5 of his last 6 Premier League matches, along with some stunning performances in the Europa League, as he is back to being the star man for Wolves. His attacking movement and ability to earn high quality chances is what makes him such a deadly player, and what makes him such a great partner for Traore. With Traore’s incredible progressive abilities added to the squad, Wolves are more often in forward areas of the field, and more often able to find Jimenez. Even against such a sturdy backline in their upcoming match, Jimenez has the attacking intelligence to create chances for himself and teammates.

Sheffield United

Like Wolves, Sheffield United are another team who have proven that they can make it in the big leagues. Much of their success has been down to their manager Chris Wilder and the tactical intelligence he has shown, similarly to Santo at Wolves. This Sheffield side thrive not on quality of player, but on the mentality of their players as well as their tactical organization. Sheffield United are actually going through a decent period of form, as they are unbeaten in their last 6 matches. Despite only 2 of these being wins, they have proven very difficult to beat at the start of this campaign, as they rarely concede high quality chances. Expected goals does show that Sheffield have been slightly fortunate though. Despite having a fairly solid defensive record, they have the 4th worst attack in the league by this metric.

Sheffield tend to thrive off very few chances, as they take the 3rd least shots in the league. They also prefer to play without possession averaging just 44.1% in the league this season. However, this system seems to suit their personnel, and despite some worrying signs, Chris Wilder definitely won’t be changing tactics any time soon. While Sheffield United don’t tend to have the same pace and power on the break as Wolves, they too are very effective with their use of possession, as they often find themselves in promising positions. In this match though, when playing against another three at the back formation, their route of attack will have to be different. Sheffield United tend to overload teams in the wide areas, with their wing-backs and center-backs constantly looking to get into crossing positions. Wolves though, have plenty of support in the wide areas, and Sheffield might have to look to the central areas to create chances.

In the center of the park, John Lundstram could look to become an attacking threat. As a center-midfielder, Lundstram has been brilliant as his extreme work-ethic and drive have defined Sheffield’s success. Despite being brought into midfield as defensive cover, Lundstram has been more effective as an offensive unit, bursting into advanced positions. His ability to arrive late in the box has led to 3 goals for him this campaign, while he has racked up the 2nd most expected goals in the Sheffield squad. In this match, Sheffield United will outnumber Wolves in midfield, meaning Lundstram will have even more opportunities to get on the ball. If Lundstram can continue to augment the forward line, like he has been doing all season, he can further contribute to his sides attacking presence and put pressure on the Wolves back three. 

Another player who has shown attacking threat this campaign is Lys Mousset. Mousset has been Sheffield’s most prolific forward up to this point, with the most and goals and the most assists in the Sheffield United squad thus far. What’s even more impressive is that he has done this in limited minutes, only starting 6 Premier League games this season. This means that he is directly contributing to a goal every 60 minutes in the Premier League, an incredible rate that should see him earn his place in the starting lineup. Against Wolves, when Sheffield United could be limited in the wide areas, Chris Wilder will be looking for a different route to goal. Mousset could provide this, as his pace up front offers possibilities for more direct counter-attacking play against a solid, but slow, Wolves backline. Although the wide areas will be Wilder’s preferred area of attack, Mousset could vary Sheffield’s attacking game plan when played up top.

Injuries

Like always, Wolves seem to come into this game relatively free of injury problems. However, their Europa League campaign has clearly taken a toll on the squad, and they could be missing a couple of players coming into this match. The only confirmed absence of any importance is Willy Boly. Boly is still suffering from an ankle injury that will have kept him out of the squad for 5 matches after this weekend. This will obviously be detrimental to their defence; however, they’ve actually fared quite well without him, having conceded 4 in 4 games. Another doubt for this game is Morgan Gibbs-White who has also been suffering from a long term injury. He could make it back for this match though, and off the bench, he has proven to be useful in attack. Another thing to consider is the aforementioned problem with Europa League fixtures. Given that Wolves played on Thursday, they will obviously be at a disadvantage coming into this match, and we could see some weary Wolves legs near the end of the game.

Sheffield United, of course, have now had a full week’s rest and could definitely come into this match with the fitter squad. They are also relatively injury-free at the moment, and they’ll be feeling strong when coming into this game. The one concern for Chris Wilder in terms of squad selection is the potential absence of John Egan. Egan was forced to miss out on Sheffield’s last match with a calf injury, and while he should be cleared for this game, there are still doubts over his availability. His absence from their last match was felt heavily, as his side ended up conceding 3 goals to Manchester United. This is the most amount of goals that they have conceded in a single Premier League match this season, while this game accounts for a fourth of the total goals that they have let in. Egan is the rock at the center of their back three, and against a potent attacking force, Wilder will be hoping that he makes a swift recovery.

Summary & Prediction

In a game between two well-matched teams, the outcome could be crucial in the battle for European football. Both stylistically and in terms of quality, these sides have shown similar traits, which should play out into an interesting tactical battle between two sides with intelligent managers. While Wolves have been the better team, with the better underlying numbers, Sheffield United continuously deny the odds despite playing against higher quality opponents. You would expect Wolves to dominate the ball in this game as they have more individual quality in most positions. However, this could fall into Sheffield’s hands, as they are more used to this style of play. Along with this, Wolves have often struggled against deep blocks in the past, and they much prefer to play on the break. 

They will, though, be boosted by home advantage. While their home record hasn’t been brilliant this season, they are still unbeaten in 13 of their last 14 Premier League home games, as they rarely lose at Molineux. Sheffield are a solid away side though, and the Blades are actually unbeaten in each of their home matches this season. Although Wolves will definitely be aided by the Molineux faithful, it might not be enough to get them across the line. Sheffield United are the type of side that Wolves have typically struggled against in their latest spell in the Premier League, and for that reason I’m predicting a draw. Wolves 1, Sheffield United 1.