Premier League: The Blades Stuck in a Rut, Villa to Take Advantage

Aston Villa vs Sheffield United

All eyes are on Aston Villa as they take the Premier League by storm! The Lions are four points clear of defending champions Manchester City in the league standings and are well within striking distance of taking the top spot in the most competitive top flight in the world.

It’s been a team effort for Unai Emery’s outfit in pulling off an astonishing stretch of football, but it’s Ollie Watkins who shines the brightest. His winning goal against Brentford gives his team the perfect opportunity to top the Premier League standings.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United have struggled since being promoted to the top flight. With a 2-2-13 record after 17 Premier League matches, the Blades find themselves at the bottom of the league table and might find themselves back in the Championship if they can’t figure out how to produce some wins.

Talking Points

Ollie Watkins: Hilt of the sword, tip of the spear

It seems like Ollie Watkins can’t do any wrong as he leads Aston Villa to such an insurmountable run in the most competitive top flight in the football world. The 27-year-old has been the focal point of Unai Emery’s offence, carrying the responsibilities of scoring and creating chances for his teammates.

After 17 games, the English forward has scored nine goals, making him fifth in the Premier League Golden Boot race, while dishing out six assists, one assist shy of the productions of Mo Salah, Pedro Neto, and Kieran Trippier.

Watkins, on numerous occasions, carried Villa on his back en route to three league points. Their recent wins over Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham, Man City, and Brentford have Watkins’ fingerprints all over them, as he either scored the winning goal or simply led the charge and controlled the pace of the game.

The resurgence of the 27-year-old didn’t just magically pop up out of nowhere. Watkins has been working closely alongside Villa’s development coach, Rodri. These two professionals are a match made in heaven for Unai Emery, as he’s given Watkins the ultimate green light.

“Sometimes we don’t even do finishing practice. We may just watch videos and analysis. He is the key for me and credit to him because he helps me so much. I will watch games back and see what I could have done better, what I did well and just keep going again.” Watkins on his relationship with Rodri.

Wilder and Sheffield stuck in the dog days

It’s been a catastrophic season for Sheffield United thus far. The recently promoted club is at the bottom of the league table with just eight points after 17 games and a goal difference of -31.

“But I really haven’t looked at a league table and I’m trying my best not to. I’m sure I’ll glance at one in the future but I’m really trying not to and hopefully that’ll cement me in my attitude which hopefully passes on to the players.” Sheffield boss Chris Wilder stated.

Unfortunately for Wilder, the club was already in shambles when he took the job from Paul Heckingbottom.

When asked about his mindset going into the role as Sheffield’s new manager, he said, “When this job became available. You need an idea of what you need to do from a technical and tactical point of view but the biggest thing we had to work on pretty quickly was the mentality of the players because of the lack of belief and lack of confidence.”

No matter how you look at it, Wilder’s hands were immediately full once he accepted to be the man at the helm for the Blades, and his football philosophy might just be what the Sheffield camp needs to rally a string of wins and slowly but surely brave their way out of the bottom of the Premier League table.

History

Since 2005, these rivals have shared the field 13 times across the Championship, Premier League, and FA Cup. In those 13 head-to-heads, Sheffield have a one-win advantage over Aston Villa. The Blades have won five games, while Villa have only managed to win four and tally a draw four times.

A modest number of 38 goals have been scored between these clubs since 2005, where both teams also almost split the scoring evenly, but Sheffield United, with 20 goals, have the upper hand compared to Aston Villa’s 18.

In recent form, the Lions are under the microscope as they continue to put up strong Premier League 2023 results and climb their way to the upper echelon of the English top flight. They’ve won four of their last five Premier League matches without conceding a loss since their headscratcher of a match against Nottingham Forest last November.

Sheffield United on the other hand, are struggling to compete with England’s top football clubs, coming in at last place with eight total points and a -31 goal difference.

Betting Tip

Unsurprisingly, the Premier League 2023 odds at SBOTOP have Aston Villa as the obvious and overwhelming favourites to win at 1.19, while Sheffield United are hoping for a Hail Mary at 10.00 and 6.20 to draw.

Given their phenomenal form in the Premier League in recent weeks, Aston Villa are at 1.19 to come out as victors in this top-flight tie. It may be a close-to-sure thing, but 1.19 doesn’t really pose enough value for some punters to get excited about. Sheffield United are stuck at the bottom of the league table, and their price of 10.00 suggests that it’ll be a long shot for the Blades to steal a win against the Lions.

Instead, given that Aston Villa boast one of the elite offences in all of England and Sheffield’s defencive struggles give light to the even line of total goals over 3.25 at 2.00. Aston Villa have managed to score 37 total goals after 17 Premier League games, an elite offence that is only second to the Mighty Manchester City, who have 40 goals to their name thus far.

 

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