Red Wing Blade
Cook Pass Babtridge
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2017
- Messages
- 5,407
- Reaction score
- 14,697
The last one was very last minute so this one is coming nice and early.
Season to date:
BLADES
P16 W5 D7 L4 GF19 GA16 GD+3 Pts22
Clean sheets: 5
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Mousset (5)
Form: WLDDDW
VILLA
P16 W4 D3 L9 GF23 GA28 GD-5 Pts15
Clean sheets: 3
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Grealish (4), Wesley (4)
Form: LLDWLL
HOME/AWAY
BLADES (Home - Last Six)
P6 W2 D1 L3 GF7 GA7 GD0 Pts7
Clean sheets: 2
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Lundstram (3)
Form: LDWWLL
VILLA (Away - Last Six)
P6 W1 D1 L4 GF11 GA13 GD-2 Pts4
Clean sheets: 0
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Wesley (3)
Form: LDLLWL
After the disappointment of their underpar performance midweek against Newcastle, which resulted in a deserved defeat, the Blades put in a less than impressive opening 45 minutes against Norwich before, what can only assumed to have been the mother of all half time Wilder rollickings, the Blades came from behind to defeat the Canaries in the second half. A welcome and much needed return to winning ways.
Their opponents, Aston Villa, are somewhat of an enigma. They play good football, they have goals and scorers in abundance, but continually come off as the losing team. They are currently out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone, which itself is a negative figure due to their lovely habit of conceding goals.
They have only won 4 matches all season which makes up 80% of their accumulated points. They have only managed to keep clean sheets on 3 occasions, with only 1 in their last 6 matches.
Dean Smith's men have numerous goal scorers with Wesley and Grealish both on 4 each for the season, and McGinn, Trezeguet and El Ghazi all on 3 each. That said half of £22mil Wesley's goals were against Norwich in a 5-1 victory, so make of that what you will. This is not something for Wilder's men to take lightly. Despite their defensive frailities, Villa aren't relying on a couple of players to score all the time. 17 of their 23 goals have come courtesy of these 5 players. Trezeguet has been in recent fine form with all of his goals coming in their last 6 matches. Villa have only failed to score in 3 of their matches this season.
Defensively Villa are poor and for all their goal scoring they're not getting the results due to conceding so many at the other end. 28 for the season so far and counting and we're not even midway through yet. They have only kept 3 clean sheets and only managed 1 in their last 11 matches.
Away from home Villa have only won 1 match all season, the victory at Carrow Road. In their last 6 matches on the road Villa have lost 4 of these and the solitary victory came 5 matches ago. In this time they have scored 11 goals, though 5 were against Norwich and they managed to put 2 past Arsenal and Man Utd. Despite this they are still haemorrhaging goals at the other end, conceding 13. They have conceded 2 or more goals in all but 1 match during this period and have not kept any clean sheets. Their top scorer away from home is Wesley with 3 goals, though 2 of those were in the Norwich victory, and 7 different players have found the back of the net during this time. Their willingness to get forward and attack leaves them vulnerable to the counter attack. Mix this with a leaky defence and Villa's insistence to bomb forward becomes their own undoing.
Wilder's men have been in indifferent form recently where good performances haven't mustered the results they deserved. Following the home defeat to Newcastle they have recovered to pick up their second win in their last 6 matches against Norwich.
They are finding the back of the net more consistently and have scored more than a single goal in 3 of their last 6 matches. Mousset, Fleck, Lundstram and Baldock have each scored 2 or more goals in this period, with fan favourite Lys Mousset still the top scorer on 5 goals for the season. The Blades should be on even more goals but we won't talk about Didsy on this thread. The Blades have failed to score in only 4 matches this season, the most recent occasion coming against Newcastle.
The Blades picked up 5 clean sheets in their opening 11 matches, but have now failed to keep any since the win against Burnley, 6 matches ago. Since then they have conceded goals on a regular basis and they've conceded 7 in just their last 4 matches alone. This is something they need to start addressing as it is putting added pressure on the attacking side of their game by forcing them to have to find the net at least twice to register a victory. This has resulted in much deserved wins ending in draws and points being dropped.
Worryingly the Blades have lost half of their matches at Bramall Lane and have only registered 3 wins. They have failed to score in 3 of these matches all of which ended in defeat. That said they have picked up 7 points from the last 4 matches at Bramall Lane. They have scored 7 goals in their last 6 home fixtures, though 6 of these were against Man Utd and Burnley, leaving just 1 goal being scored in the other 4 matches. John Lundstram remains the home hero with 3 goals.
They have conceded 7 goals at Bramall Lane in the last six fixtures, with 5 coming from the last home matches against Newcastle and Man Utd. However, they have managed to keep 1 clean sheet in their last 6 home games, the latest being against Burnley three home matches ago.
The Blades have more than enough in their repertoire to defeat Aston Villa, but their inconsistent results and recent habit of consistently conceding could make this a nervous but exciting match. Villa will come forward and not come to park the bus predictably like a certain ex-Blades manager did. They are a threat on goal and have scorers all over, but they will leave themselves open to counter attack and are not known for their defensive abilities. It comes down to which Blades team shows up. The one who plays well and loses, punished for their inability to take chances, like against Liverpool, Leicester and Southampton, or the team that tore apart Arsenal, Burnley and Man Utd in dominant displays. Anything but that shower that turned out against the ex manager in the last home game.
Prediction: Home win
Season to date:
BLADES
P16 W5 D7 L4 GF19 GA16 GD+3 Pts22
Clean sheets: 5
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Mousset (5)
Form: WLDDDW
VILLA
P16 W4 D3 L9 GF23 GA28 GD-5 Pts15
Clean sheets: 3
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Grealish (4), Wesley (4)
Form: LLDWLL
HOME/AWAY
BLADES (Home - Last Six)
P6 W2 D1 L3 GF7 GA7 GD0 Pts7
Clean sheets: 2
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Lundstram (3)
Form: LDWWLL
VILLA (Away - Last Six)
P6 W1 D1 L4 GF11 GA13 GD-2 Pts4
Clean sheets: 0
Penalties: 0
Top scorer: Wesley (3)
Form: LDLLWL
After the disappointment of their underpar performance midweek against Newcastle, which resulted in a deserved defeat, the Blades put in a less than impressive opening 45 minutes against Norwich before, what can only assumed to have been the mother of all half time Wilder rollickings, the Blades came from behind to defeat the Canaries in the second half. A welcome and much needed return to winning ways.
Their opponents, Aston Villa, are somewhat of an enigma. They play good football, they have goals and scorers in abundance, but continually come off as the losing team. They are currently out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone, which itself is a negative figure due to their lovely habit of conceding goals.
They have only won 4 matches all season which makes up 80% of their accumulated points. They have only managed to keep clean sheets on 3 occasions, with only 1 in their last 6 matches.
Dean Smith's men have numerous goal scorers with Wesley and Grealish both on 4 each for the season, and McGinn, Trezeguet and El Ghazi all on 3 each. That said half of £22mil Wesley's goals were against Norwich in a 5-1 victory, so make of that what you will. This is not something for Wilder's men to take lightly. Despite their defensive frailities, Villa aren't relying on a couple of players to score all the time. 17 of their 23 goals have come courtesy of these 5 players. Trezeguet has been in recent fine form with all of his goals coming in their last 6 matches. Villa have only failed to score in 3 of their matches this season.
Defensively Villa are poor and for all their goal scoring they're not getting the results due to conceding so many at the other end. 28 for the season so far and counting and we're not even midway through yet. They have only kept 3 clean sheets and only managed 1 in their last 11 matches.
Away from home Villa have only won 1 match all season, the victory at Carrow Road. In their last 6 matches on the road Villa have lost 4 of these and the solitary victory came 5 matches ago. In this time they have scored 11 goals, though 5 were against Norwich and they managed to put 2 past Arsenal and Man Utd. Despite this they are still haemorrhaging goals at the other end, conceding 13. They have conceded 2 or more goals in all but 1 match during this period and have not kept any clean sheets. Their top scorer away from home is Wesley with 3 goals, though 2 of those were in the Norwich victory, and 7 different players have found the back of the net during this time. Their willingness to get forward and attack leaves them vulnerable to the counter attack. Mix this with a leaky defence and Villa's insistence to bomb forward becomes their own undoing.
Wilder's men have been in indifferent form recently where good performances haven't mustered the results they deserved. Following the home defeat to Newcastle they have recovered to pick up their second win in their last 6 matches against Norwich.
They are finding the back of the net more consistently and have scored more than a single goal in 3 of their last 6 matches. Mousset, Fleck, Lundstram and Baldock have each scored 2 or more goals in this period, with fan favourite Lys Mousset still the top scorer on 5 goals for the season. The Blades should be on even more goals but we won't talk about Didsy on this thread. The Blades have failed to score in only 4 matches this season, the most recent occasion coming against Newcastle.
The Blades picked up 5 clean sheets in their opening 11 matches, but have now failed to keep any since the win against Burnley, 6 matches ago. Since then they have conceded goals on a regular basis and they've conceded 7 in just their last 4 matches alone. This is something they need to start addressing as it is putting added pressure on the attacking side of their game by forcing them to have to find the net at least twice to register a victory. This has resulted in much deserved wins ending in draws and points being dropped.
Worryingly the Blades have lost half of their matches at Bramall Lane and have only registered 3 wins. They have failed to score in 3 of these matches all of which ended in defeat. That said they have picked up 7 points from the last 4 matches at Bramall Lane. They have scored 7 goals in their last 6 home fixtures, though 6 of these were against Man Utd and Burnley, leaving just 1 goal being scored in the other 4 matches. John Lundstram remains the home hero with 3 goals.
They have conceded 7 goals at Bramall Lane in the last six fixtures, with 5 coming from the last home matches against Newcastle and Man Utd. However, they have managed to keep 1 clean sheet in their last 6 home games, the latest being against Burnley three home matches ago.
The Blades have more than enough in their repertoire to defeat Aston Villa, but their inconsistent results and recent habit of consistently conceding could make this a nervous but exciting match. Villa will come forward and not come to park the bus predictably like a certain ex-Blades manager did. They are a threat on goal and have scorers all over, but they will leave themselves open to counter attack and are not known for their defensive abilities. It comes down to which Blades team shows up. The one who plays well and loses, punished for their inability to take chances, like against Liverpool, Leicester and Southampton, or the team that tore apart Arsenal, Burnley and Man Utd in dominant displays. Anything but that shower that turned out against the ex manager in the last home game.
Prediction: Home win
