Sheffield United have been the success story of this Premier League season, starting the season as 100-1 odds on favourites for relegation, after 26 games they currently find themselves in fifth place on 39 points with survival all but guaranteed. But it is the manner in which they have achieved their success which epitomises the qualities required to survive in the Premier League, and the Blades should be the blueprint for any promoted side looking to consolidate themselves in the top-flight in the future.
Only league leaders Liverpool have conceded fewer goals in the top-flight this term than the Blades’ 24 which is an astonishing record from a newly promoted side. In total this season Sheffield United have kept nine clean sheets so far, also behind Liverpool alone, who have kept the opposition out 11 times in the Premier League.
What is even more astonishing is that the Blades have accumulated their 39 Premier League points by scoring just 28 goals, the lowest of any side in the top half of the table. Even though they have been struggling to find the back of the net with the same regularity as their fellow top half sides, only once scoring more than two goals in a Premier League match, their outstanding defensive record has meant they have only dropped points on seven occasions, just once more than Manchester City and Leicester City.
Furthermore, the antithesis of Wilder’s supreme defensive setup is Dean Smith’s Aston Villa side. The Villans have scored 32 goals this season, but no other team has conceded more than their 47 in the Premier League, leaving them with just 25 points and a goal difference of minus 15. While Villa battle relegation at the foot of the table, there is an entirely different kind of pressure on Sheffield United, who are competing to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
Manager and lifelong fan Wilder has proved that the only way for newly promoted sides to thrive in the Premier League is to ensure their defence is watertight. Trying to tackle the division with guns blazing is a recipe for disaster which as Villa and Norwich City may well find out, tends to result in a return to the Championship.
