Sheffield United looking to break record which has stood for almost twenty years | OneFootball

If the start of the 2024/25 season was a horse race you’d say that Sheffield United were galloping along at a steady pace, and not really turning up the gears just yet. But, using this expression, we do know once they get into full stride they will be very hard to stop.

Things haven’t really been firing on all cylinders through the first eight league games, yet they currently reside in third at the time of writing. The Blades have scored ten goals: three of them being deflections/own goals, five of them have been fantastic strikes from outside of the box or tight angles.

United have created an average of 1.6 big chances per game, missing 1.4 of those. The positive of course is that there is plenty of room for improvement, and slowly but surely the goals will start to fly in from this star-studded attack.

HULL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 13: Anel Ahmedhodzic of Sheffield United reacts with teammate Vinicius Souza following the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City AFC and Sheffield United FC at MKM Stadium on September 13, 2024 in Hull, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Sheffield United have a solid foundation to rely on

At the other end of the pitch, the Blades look like they finally have an outstanding goalkeeper that they own for the first time in what seems like forever. In front of him is the towering Harry Souttar, and the more fleet-footed Anel Ahmedhodzic. But make no mistake, Souttar has good mobility and ball-playing ability, just as Ahmedhodzic is good in the air.

The two full-backs, while one of the youngest players in the league, look like they’ve played at this level for a long time and their ability to sweep up the danger down the sides of the defence has been great to see through the opening few months.

United are unbeaten in the Championship this season and are currently riding a consecutive clean sheets tally of five, with a chance to make it six on Saturday. The record for most consecutive clean sheets in the Championship is nine. It was set by Reading during the 2005/06 season where goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was key to this achievement, as Reading also won the league that season, earning promotion to the Premier League.

Sheffield United finished 2nd in that campaign, under the guidance of Neil Warnock.

Recently speaking about the excellent defensive record, which has seen them concede just three times in the second tier, Chris Wilder stated: “We’re not a defensive side, we’re not set up to just sit in and play counterattack football. We want to be good on the ball, create opportunities, dominate possession. We want our xG (expected goals) to be better, but it’s about getting both parts of the game right.”

“Keeping the ball out the back of the net, whether it’s a structure or an attitude, is an art and a skill as much as it is to create and score.”

The Blades have kept five clean sheets in a row for the first time since February of 2022, and they’ll be looking to edge closer to Reading’s record that’s almost two decades old.