“Is it a must-win game?” Chris Wilder asked. “Let’s not kid ourselves, of course it is. We have got to win to give ourselves a fighting chance. We can’t hide away from it.”
The biggest Premier League game of the season may not be Liverpool versus Manchester City on Sunday. It could be the meeting of its two poorest teams, according to the standings. It is in effect an eliminator; perhaps not for West Bromwich Albion, but certainly for Sheffield United, who kick off 13 points from safety, after making the worst start to a top-flight campaign for 118 years but buoyed by two wins in January.
“We would have loved to get that first win four months ago but it wasn’t to be,” said Wilder. Their 2-1 victory over Manchester United last week revived hopes, but he does not try to downplay the importance of Tuesday's match.
“If we don’t win games of football we are not going to be in the division next year and we all have to deal with that,” he said. “We can’t hide away from it. We put ourselves in this position so we have to get ourselves out of it.”
The best way to do that is to defeat to relegation rivals. A reason why United’s plight is so severe is that they lost 1-0 to Albion in a November game when they had 21 shots. “An incredible missed opportunity,” said Wilder. “Our belief has taken a dent on more than a few occasions with the results we have not picked up.”
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Manchester City v Sheffield United ratings
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MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson – 6. Fielded a tame Brewster shot from the edge of the box. And that was about all he had to do to earn his wages. Reuters -
Kyle Walker – 6. His pace was important a number of times to cover his fellow defenders against Burke. Rarely ventured forward to join the attack, though. AP -
Aymeric Laporte – 6. Did not always look comfortable with Burke rumbling towards him, or in the air against him, either. AP -
Ruben Dias – 7. Snuffed out an early break by Burke, and looked his usual classy self. Could have done better with a header at a corner just after the break, though. Getty -
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7. Went looking for work in central midfield, given he was largely underemployed in defence. Guilty of a foul throw, as Bernardo Silva was. Saw a shot from distance saved in the second half. EPA -
Fernandinho – 7. Pulled the strings during City’s early dominance, progressing play with incisive passing, and was characteristically destructive whenever the Blades did make it forward. EPA -
Ilkay Gundogan – 7. City failed to make the most of a number of threatening crosses from dead balls by the Germany midfielder. Always keen to get on the ball. AP -
Bernardo Silva – 6. At the heart of plenty of City’s best attacking moments, albeit without his usual dynamism. Being pinged for a foul throw summed up the fact he was just slightly off key. EPA -
Ferran Torres – 8. Great perseverance set up the ninth-minute goal for Jesus, and he was City’s most potent attacking threat for much of the remainder. Getty -
Phil Foden – 6. Looked worryingly groggy after a clash of heads with Lundstram. Made some gliding runs, without creating many clear openings. AFP -
Gabriel Jesus – 7. Applied a calm finish after Torres teed him up for the goal. May have doubled his tally if not for a gymnastic save by Ramsdale in injury time. PA -
SUBSTITUTES: Rodrigo – NA. Brought on for Torres late on as Pep Guardiola tried to close out the game. Which was odd to see from the league leaders against the side in last place. PA -
SHEFFIELD UNITED RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale – 8. Fortune favoured him when he bravely threw himself at Jesus’ feet following a right-wing cross. Made a showy save to turn away a shot from Zinchenko. Saved the ensuing corner, too. EPA -
George Baldock – 7. Tried to spark his side after they went with a purposeful run into City’s box. Shackled Foden well, although he was booked for fouling him late on. AP -
Chris Basham – 7. City might have overwhelmingly dominated possession, but Basham rarely looked overrun in defence. He was sacrificed in a late double substitution as Chris Wilder chased points. Getty -
John Egan – 7. Well placed to help Bogle thwart Torres following a clever pass from Walker in the second half, and he kept close tabs on Jesus throughout. Yellow carded for dragging back Fernandinho. AFP -
Ethan Ampadu – 5. The on-loan defender messed up twice for the opener, with a limp header followed by an even limper attempted tackle on Torres. Getty -
John Lundstram – 6. Let possession slip to end one of the brightest moments for the Blades in a tough first half, but leant plenty of heft to the defensive effort. AP -
John Fleck – 7. His sloppy giveaway at the start of the second phase presented a chance to City, which they were unable to take. Got through a lot of work spoiling City’s creative players. His blistering late drive whistled inches wide. AP -
Oliver Norwood – 6. Got lucky when his header back to goal found Bernardo Silva, only for his flick on to be save by Ramsdale. Yellow carded for a foul on Foden. AFP -
Jayden Bogle – 6. Stuck to his task against Bernardo Silva, but Torres did get the better of him a number of times, including for the opener. Miscued a shooting chance in the second half. AFP -
Rhian Brewster – 5. Had Sheffield United’s one shot on target, but it was powder puff stuff. Other than that, he was scarcely a presence up front for the Blades. Getty -
Oliver Burke – 7. The strapping forward’s bullocking runs were a feature of the Blades resistance. Cut a tired figured as he tried his best to harry the City backline towards the end. AP -
SUBSTITUTES: David McGoldrick – 6. In the 30 minutes he got at the end, his most notable contributions were clearing from his own box. AFP -
Billy Sharp – NA. Did his best to impress himself on the encounter, in the short time he was given at the end. PA -
Ollie McBurnie – NA. Suffered a blow to the head almost as soon as he had made it onto the field as a substitute late on. PA
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Now it is renewed. A team who reached the half-way stage with five points wonder if the impossible can become possible. “I have to be realistic to know we are not going to win 12 or 13 out of 17, very few do, but we have to win a big bulk of games and I believe we can games of football,” said Wilder. “Is it going to be enough? I can’t answer that.”
None have lost more, but 12 of their defeats have come by one-goal margins. The league table may lie. On Saturday, Pep Guardiola told Wilder he was scratching his head at the position United are in. It underlined, he said, what the Premier League is the toughest division in the world.
Wilder was grateful for complimentary comments. “It doesn’t gain you points but he doesn’t have to say those things about us,” he said. “It backed up my opinion we are alive.”
But their predicament worsened in a weekend when first Newcastle and then Brighton won. “We are only human, we all look at the league table, you can’t get away from it,” Wilder said.
Albion looked at it when appointing Sam Allardyce, who has famously never gone down as a top-flight manager but whose eight games have only brought five points.
“They have got a hugely experienced manager who has never been relegated and pulled rabbits out of hats left, right and centre before,” Wilder said. “He has got teams out of positions that I don’t think many managers would be able to.”
While Allardyce spent Monday trying to add to his squad in trademark deadline-day dealings, Wilder has the same squad, even though this season has brought the worst injury problems of his managerial career. But he can testify to Allardyce’s acumen in the transfer market.
Their relationship goes back 24 years to when Allardyce took over at Notts County and inherited a journeyman full-back. “His first transfer was getting rid of one C Wilder to Bradford,” smiled Wilder. “They got promoted the next season. He knows his stuff.”
