Earlier this season...
Sheffield United. 0 : 0 Doncaster Rovers
The Blades dominated at Bramall Lane. 61% possession, more than twice as many shots and Rovers didn't win a single corner but they could not be broken down.
So far this season...
Equal on points, the Blades with a slender one-goal advantage on Goal Difference but the Rovers have a game in hand. It doesn't get much closer!
The Blades are clearly tough to beat. Only three defeats so far this season, and two of those were away at promotion-rivals MK Dons and Brentford. The third I will deal with later. But 10 draws is a lot. Taking a look at them in detail, 3 of those draws were goalless against promotion rivals and so in May will probably be regarded as no bad thing. Of the remaining seven, on 3 occasions the Blades recovered a point, in the other 4, they lost two.
So when Hartlepool came to the Lane in the last fixture of 2012, the bottom placed team, without an away win in the league were facing the leaders who were unbeaten at home. Hardly any wonder that the bookies were offering 10/1 for an away win at the start of the match. But football is a funny old game!
All three of Hartlepool's goals started on the right-hand side of the Blades' defence. The first was a short throw that was returned to the taker. The most token of token efforts to close him down allowed a precise cross which was met by Steve Howard arriving between the two central defenders.
The third came from two right sided players being suckered out to suicidally high positions allowing Horwood to play James Poole in behind them. His cross was met again by Steve Howard, virtually unmarked for his brace. In between, the Blades suffered the ignominy of a former Owls favourite getting Pool's second and taking a little pleasure in doing so.
At the back, Hartlepool learnt a vital lesson from United's equalizer and started to put a lot more effort into closing down Blades on the edge of the box. There's more than enough players capable of shooting from range in the Blades' team and had they not put a stop to this, they would have lost the game.
Like against like
So far this season, where we have had the same fixtures, the Blades have come out better winning 6 more points than the Rovers. Quite a difference when you consider how similarly matched we are in the table.
Form and In Game Stats
Looking at the form comparators, you see that the Blades are as adept at parking the bus away from home as the Rovers. They are happy to hold the ball (although in recent games, not so much) and try to tempt their opponents out before killing them off with a very respectable shooting efficiency of 1 goal per 7.4 shots.
In their recent games, they've been far more direct indicated by 4.8 minutes of possession per shot compared with the normal 11 minutes. Good or bad thing? - Both! It worked against Crawley, who limited the Blades to just 29% possession but lost 2:0 having only managed 5 shots despite their dominance (Blades park the bus). It failed against Brentford, who destroyed the Blades in the first 45 to have them chasing the game in the second period.
Donny's home form remains their achilles heel. Their problem at home is shown by the shooting efficiency figures. Rovers are clinical, but at the Keepmoat, they're allowing their opponents to be more clinical. To indicate the difference between home and away, the opponents shooting efficiency of 16.9 % at the Keepmoat compares with a paltry 5.3% away from home.
All in all, this game will be as tight as the table makes it look. I'd expect the Blades to sit back, inviting the Rovers on to them in the hope of hitting on the break. A goal for the Rovers will cause the kitchen sink to be thrown as there is plenty of attacking prowess in the Blades' side. Losing two on the bounce hasn't happened this season and they will be keen to ensure it stays that way. That 100% record from winning positions could get its most severe test of the season.
A goal for the Blades will result in an attempted shut-out and lots of work from the Rovers to crack a very tough nut.
Forum Corner
With Donny getting arguably their best result of the season, and a stutter for the Blades (but what a stutter), there has to be some "what does it take to make fans happy" posts on the forums.
On VSC, a post containing a video of the goals provoked a debate as to which one was lucky (shame on the OP for suggesting the first one was!). Perhaps we need a rule on intent with regard to goals? It would be another one for the refs to get wrong, along with handballs.
I also saw a welcome positive post about Gary Woods, who has previously been a Keyboard Warriors' target. Are we finally giving the lad a break? He could become a fine 'keeper if we do.
The Blades showed their sense of humour on S24SU.com, setting up a poll to select Danny Wilson's replacement in the light of the defeat and managers who are suddenly available. I'm not sure, but I think the choices could be loaded though. The candidates are:
Keith Hill (I like a man who looks like he's been sleeping in a ditch for the last three years, me.)
Sean O'Driscoll (I worship the ground he walks on. Did I say ground? I meant water.)
Danny Wilson (I'm currently not a certified mentalist.)
The article points out that a dismissal could be an over-reaction after a losing run of, well, one.
Posted with Blogsy
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