Match Preview
Sheffield United vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 05 at Bramall Lane
Sunday 18th October 2020 KO: 12:00
Referee:
Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
Live on BT Sport Box Office
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Sheffield United and Fulham square off in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon still looking for their first point of the campaign.
The Blades and Cottagers occupy the bottom two places in the standings having scored just four goals between them in eight matches.
Scott Parker would have felt that the international break had come at the wrong time for his side, who put in a much-improved display in the 1-0 reverse at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nevertheless, the afternoon ended in another setback, and Parker is aware that the stakes are growing higher as he bids to remain at Craven Cottage in the long term.
Parker realistically needs to keep Aleksandar Mitrovic available for selection if the West Londoners are to get themselves out of the relegation zone, but he also requires more consistency from his backline.
Despite the highs during their first season back in the Premier League, Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder would have always expected the second campaign to prove significantly tougher.
However, Wilder would not have envisaged his side scoring just one goal during four successive defeats, a sequence which has left the club as one of three clubs without a point to their name.
Although the setbacks have come against teams who have made significant moves in the transfer market, Wilder will be bitterly disappointed having been left with the prospect of a relegation battle so soon after almost qualifying for Europe.
The Yorkshire outfit managed to run Arsenal close in their most recent outing, but the level of the performance was still considerably below what Wilder expects from his players.
With a trip to Liverpool to follow next weekend, Wilder will be the first to acknowledge that there is added pressure to get a positive result on the board against Fulham.
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The home side has won both previous Premier League meetings between Sheffield United and Fulham, with the Blades winning 2-0 and the Cottagers winning 1-0 in the 2006-07 campaign.
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Fulham won both league meetings with Sheffield United the last time the sides faced in the 2017-18 Championship, winning 5-4 at Bramall Lane and 3-0 at Craven Cottage. A player from each side scored a hat-trick in the 5-4 triumph (Ryan Sessegnon for Fulham, Leon Clarke for Sheffield United).
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The home side has won 11 of the last 15 Premier League matches between the bottom two sides (D3 L1), with the only away win in that time coming for bottom placed Watford at Norwich in November 2019 (2-0).
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Fulham and Sheffield United are the only sides yet to have led so far in the Premier League this season, while Fulham have been behind for a league-high four hours 40 minutes in 2020-21.
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Fulham have never started a season with five successive league defeats.
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They could lose their opening three away fixtures in a Premier League season for the second time, after 2008-09.
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Fulham's solitary victory in their past 23 Premier League away games was by 1-0 at Bournemouth in April 2019 (D2, L20).
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Scott Parker has lost 11 of his 14 Premier League matches as a head coach.
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Parker scored a 90th-minute winner in West Ham's 1-0 victory versus Chris Wilder's Oxford United at Upton Park in the League Cup second round in August 2010.
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Fulham have lost each of their four Premier League games this season, failing to score in three of them and shipping 11 goals in the process. They've never lost each of their first five games in a league season before in their history.
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Sheffield United could lose eight league games in a row for the first time in their history.
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They have begun a top-flight season with four straight defeats for the first time since 1966.
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The Blades have only once lost their opening five league fixtures in a season, when in the second tier in 1995-96.
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Manager Chris Wilder has lost seven consecutive league matches as a manager for the first time since a run of 10 consecutive defeats with Halifax Town between February and April 2004.
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United scored their first Premier League goal of the season in their most recent match, with David McGoldrick finding the net against Arsenal in a 2-1 defeat.
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Last season in the Premier League, Sheffield United conceded a goal every 98 minutes on average with Dean Henderson in goal (33 goals in 3240 minutes). Without Henderson in goal this season and last, the Blades concede on average a goal every 45 minutes (12 in 540 minutes).