The Blades host their South Yorkshire neighbours Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon. It will be the first time the two clubs have come face to face with each other since the 18/19 Championship season.
Sheffield United come into this derby game in high spirits, they’re currently sat in 1st place in the league, after a 2-0 away win at Hull last Sunday. Meanwhile Rotherham United come into the game after a 1-1 draw against Watford, and they are currently 13th in the league.
The Millers have been playing a 5-3-2 formation this season which has seen them get off to a very good start at this early stage in the Championship.
Here is how I predict them to line up against United on Saturday:
I expect them to make zero changes; if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Consistency in team selection will serve them well this season.
Overall so far this season, the Millers have attacked down the right 46% of the time, using Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s athleticism and dribbling ability to their fullest extent.
United’s left-hand side will have their work cut out when Rotherham attacks down the right because Norton-Cuffy averages 3 successful dribbles per game. This ranks him in the top 5 in the league in that aspect.
Here are the average positions that Rotherham recorded against Watford:
Again, you can see the attacking threat coming down the right wing from Norton-Cuffy.
Rotherham have a solid midfield for a team that is newly promoted out of League One. Daniel Barlaser is the dictator in midfield for Rotherham and already has 4 assists in the league, the joint most.
As you can tell by his heatmap, he is their main man in the middle third. He’s averaging 2.3 key passes per game, and his dead ball delivery is a big threat.
Often it has been the Rotherham United captain getting on the end of those set pieces. Richard Wood is one of the top scorers in the division with 4 goals already.
The Millers are the 2nd worst team in the Championship when it comes to ball possession, and the number of accurate passes per game is considered the lowest.
The goalkeeper, Johansson, has been one of the better performing keepers in the league at this stage conceding 0.9 goals per game and he makes the 5th most saves per game in the Championship.
As of now, Saturday afternoon opponents are one of the lowest creators in the Championship. Though defensively, they are steady.
Rotherham are currently 13th in the Championship, however, they are slightly overperforming. The Infogol model suggests they should be around 19th in the table.