'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

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'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

Sheffield United can approach Sunday's clash with Leicester City at King Power Stadium without too much pressure on their shoulders, says The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe.

2021-03-14T08:56:00.000Z

'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

Sheffield United can approach Sunday's clash with Leicester City at King Power Stadium without too much pressure on their shoulders, says The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe.

2021-03-14T08:56:00.000Z

'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

Sheffield United can approach Sunday's clash with Leicester City at King Power Stadium without too much pressure on their shoulders, says The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe.

2021-03-14T08:56:00.000Z

'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

Sheffield United can approach Sunday's clash with Leicester City at King Power Stadium without too much pressure on their shoulders, says The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe.

2021-03-14T08:56:00.000Z

'The Pressure Is Off Sheffield United'

Sheffield United can approach Sunday's clash with Leicester City at King Power Stadium without too much pressure on their shoulders, says The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe.

2021-03-14T08:56:00.000Z

- The Athletic's Richard Sutcliffe looks ahead to Sunday's encounter between Leicester City and Sheffield United (2pm kick-off)- The Blades are currently bottom of the Premier League and will be managed by Paul Heckingbottom this weekend- United can take heart from the lack of pressure being played on them, says Sutcliffe- Live coverage of the game is available, for free, from 12:30pm on LCFC Radio on Sunday afternoon

The Blades, now managed by Paul Heckingbottom until the end of the season, are 12 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the Premier League table, despite securing a ninth-placed finish under Chris Wilder in 2019/20, with just four wins to their name this term.

Although the Yorkshire club had to wait until 12 January for their first three points of the current campaign, form has generally been improved in 2021, securing another three successes, including a 2-1 win at Manchester United.

With just 10 games of the season remaining, Sutcliffe believes United can take heart from their more recent performances and results, as well as their fortunes in the Emirates FA Cup, in which they face Chelsea in the quarter-finals later this month.

"As you’d understand, it’s a little bit downbeat," Sutcliffe told LCFC TV in an interview conducted before Wilder's departure in Sheffield. "You’ve only got to look at the league table to realise how this season’s been really. It’s funny really, since the first week in January, the form’s not been too bad.

"They’ve got 12 points from 11 games which, in the form table, puts them 15th in the Premier League. We’d all take that, but the problem is they had two points after 17 games.

"The form’s had a bit of an upturn lately, amid some pretty serious injury problems. With the cup coming up the week after the trip to Leicester, that’s probably the last hope."

However, despite the Blades' predicament in the league, Sutcliffe says they can approach their 10-game final run-in with a sense of freedom, hopefully with players beginning to return to full fitness.

"The pressure is off," he added. "You go into these games hoping they can get something. The problem is that they’ve had key players away this season. Jack O'Connell’s been the big one.

"They’re missing a lot players now, including the whole back three which last season was built on. They’re hoping to see [Chris] Basham, possibly, before the international break. It might be Sunday, but I’d have thought it will be more likely in the FA Cup.

"John Egan’s out until after the international break and O’Connell hasn’t played since the first two weeks of the season. Then, in midfield, as well, there’s people out of form and Sander Burge’s still out, the record signing. They have been down to the bare bones, but they’ve got the odd result.

"They beat Villa a week last Wednesday, but they were well beaten by Southampton on Saturday. But for Aaron Ramsdale, that could have been worse. It felt a little bit like back to square one, but they are competitive and they are giving teams games.

"They’ve won four games since the turn of the year which, if they had a platform to build on, wouldn’t have been too bad."

Sutcliffe also pointed to United's fortunes when they've gone behind in games, recalling just one instance when the Blades have come from behind to secure a Premier League victory this season.

"The first goal is huge for a team that’s in Sheffield United’s position," he explained. "I think they’ve done remarkably well so far not to let heads sink yet. I covered Huddersfield a couple of years ago in the Premier League and their heads did go.

"From about February onwards, I think they (Huddersfield) won one game and lost 15 of about 17 games at one stage. They took too much punishment, but Sheffield United haven’t done that.

"They’ve stayed in games, but inevitably, when you’ve had the results they’ve had, if you go behind in a match, usually that means they’re going to lose the game. At West Brom, they did come from behind to win on 2 February, but otherwise the other three victories are when they’ve gone in front.

"The first goal has been crucial because they’ve only drawn two games this season, so if they do go behind, they don’t usually come back to even get a point.

"If Jamie Vardy gets his customary goal against Sheffield United, I’d have thought Leicester will be in a very, very good position."

All times GMT.

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