For the first time since 2007, Premier League football will be played again on Bramall Lane on Sunday afternoon. Sheffield United then takes on Crystal Palace in the first home game. Both teams played a draw in their first game and hope to book the first victory this weekend.
Sheffield United:
After twelve years, Sheffield United is playing in the Premier League again. The Blades relegated from the Premier League to the Championship in the 2006-2007 season and stayed on England’s second level for four years. However, during the 2010-2011 season, Sheffield United finished in 23rd place in the Championship, relegating it to League One. After six seasons of League One, The Blades again promoted to the Championship in 2017 and in the second season, promotion was immediately enforced to the Premier League. The question is of course whether Sheffield United is ready for the Premier League, but the same question was asked, for example, when AFC Bournemouth unexpectedly promoted to the highest level in 2015.
At Bournemouth they have held up well in the Premier League in recent years and Sheffield United opened the Premier League adventure by coincidence with an away match at Bournemouth last weekend. The Blades seemed to return scoreless after Sheffield United fell behind after just over an hour of football. Eventually The Blades dragged one point out of the fire in the final phase with a goal from Billy Sharp. The 33-year-old Sharp played years ago with Sheffield United in the League One and was consistently accurate on behalf of The Blades in both the League One and the Championship. Last weekend the routinier showed that he could still be of value to Sheffield United in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace:
Crystal Palace travels to Sheffield on Sunday afternoon with Wilfried Zaha in the ranks. In recent months, the Ivorian has been associated daily with a switch to Arsenal, Everton or another (sub) top club, but is still a contract player at Crystal Palace. Zaha himself would have preferred to have left during the last transfer period to an English club and Crystal Palace could theoretically sell the attacker to a club outside of England, but that chance is not so great. Moreover, Roy Hodgson wants Zaha to stay in South London, because a star player’s departure can be the difference between relegation and retention.
Given all the commotion, Hodgson decided to position Zaha in the first league match against Everton. In the 65th minute Zaha did come in and also the Ivorian couldn’t change the start and end position: 0-0. At Crystal Palace, they looked back on the duel with Everton with mixed feelings, because The Eagles had two big chances, but they didn’t play a world game either. Moreover, grabbing a point against Everton is not a bad result for Crystal Palace.
