Billy Sharp is a very good striker. Lets just get that out of the way first. He's scored in 40 games since Chris Wilder took over in 2016 and take a guess at how many games we've lost since then? Go on... I'll give you some time to think... Do you have an answer? If your answer was none, congratulations! You win some Sheffield United trivia points (disclaimer: these points don't equate to a real life prize.) Billy was once again on target as United went to Reading on Saturday and came away with a convincing 2-0 in front of the dreaded Sky Sports cameras. After failing to win only two games in our last eight fixtures, this was a welcome win and gives us great momentum going into the fixture against those boiler men Baggies (seriously, have you SEEN their mascot?) West Brom on the other hand come into this game in indifferent form, they managed to smash four goals past Leeds then win narrow games against Ipswich and Swansea but then draw their last two games against Brentford and Villa. So two evenly matched teams going at loggerheads under the Bramall Lane lights on a Friday, what could be better than that? Lets look at those Baggies then.
Apart from their errant form of late, its interesting to note that West Brom haven't kept a clean sheet in the league for close to three and a half months. Although they score at will, (44, the most in the league) it seems they struggle to keep it out of their own net. With a backline that consists of players such as Kieran Gibbs, Ahmed Hegazi and Ex - Blade Kyle Bartley it seems strange that they leak so many goals along with goalkeeper Sam Johnstone who impressed at Aston Villa last season. So if Billy and co. are at their sharpest on Friday, we could be in for a high scoring game. The reason why The Baggies have scored so much this season is quite easy to see when you see who they have up top and with a strike force like this, it could be a hard night for Bash, Egan and Jack... Jay Rodriguez and Dwight Gayle lead the frontline for West Brom and what a frontline it is. Between them, they've already scored 20 goals this season and are reminding people that they probably shouldn't be playing in the Championship. Rodriguez burst onto the scene in the 2011-12 season with Burnley where he scored 21 goals in 41 appearances and earned him a move to a then young and exciting Southampton team. He continued his goalscoring and in his debut season scored a respectable 9 goals in 37 games but it was his second season that really made the big teams pay attention. In a season where Southampton finished 8th, Rodriguez scored 17 goals in 39 games which led to an England call up and links with moves to bigger teams. Unfortunately, Rodriguez never hit those same heights again after suffering a ruptured ACL that kept him side-lined for the whole of the 2014-15 season. However, after a move to West Brom last summer, he's begun to find his goalscoring touch again and scored 11 goals as West Brom were relegated to the Championship and has started this season in a rich vein of goalscoring form, bagging 10 goals in 21 matches. Dwight Gayle on the other hand has had to fight his way to professional football. Starring for Bishop's Stortford in the Conference North, Gayle scored 42 goals in 55 games during the 2011-12 season which earned him a move to League Two Dagenham and Redbridge the following season. Gayle didn't slow down and managed to score 7 goals in 18 League appearances which in turn earned him a mid season move to Peterborough in the Championship. The rate at which he climbed the football league pyramid could easily have led to burnout but Gayle proved the doubters wrong and scored 13 goals in 29 appearances. Three years after his outstanding season in the Conference North, Gayle was on the move again and this time it was to Premier League Crystal Palace. Its a great story and you have to tip your hat to Gayle and how fast he climbed the mountain to get to the 'promised land' of football. However, his rich goalscoring form did lessen in the Premier League with Gayle only getting double figures once in three seasons at Palace (2014-15 - 10 goals). This led to a move to newly relegated Newcastle United in 2016-17 and Gayle rediscovered the goal-den touch (d'you get it? I know... its bad...) scoring 23 goals in 32 league games as Newcastle stormed to the title. Gayle had another crack at the big time... and disappointed again scoring 6 league goals. This led to Gayle being farmed out to the Baggies where he has been banging them in at a quick rate again, getting 10 in 21 league games. Perhaps Gayle is like the Neil Warnock of strikers, lethal in the Football League, toothless in the Premier. So, how do I see this one panning out? Well with two teams fully capable of scoring goals and conceding them at steady rate this could be a goal fest. But I think that out of the two defences, United are more organised and will prevail winning an entertaining fixture 3-2 with a Billy brace and McGoldrick finally scoring. Until next time Blades, UTB.
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AuthorHi my name is John and i will be giving my thoughts on the blades matches and all blades related news in this section Archives
November 2022
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