On a recent edition of the Sheffield United-focused ‘Blades Pod’ podcast, Ben Meakin spent some time discussing how he anticipates the Blades lining up in their next Premier League fixture against Manchester United.
The Blades haven’t enjoyed an ideal restart to the Premier League campaign. After drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa last Wednesday, in a game that saw the Blades score a goal that wasn’t awarded due to a failure of the goal-line technology, they went on to suffer a 3-0 loss to Newcastle United this past weekend.
|
|
As per Yorkshire Live, the Blades have some team selection concerns ahead of their next Premier League game at Old Trafford. John Egan, who received a red card at the weekend against Newcastle United, will be suspended for this game, while Dean Henderson, who is on loan at Bramall Lane from the Red Devils, will also be unavailable for selection in midweek.
In addition to that, this article from Yorkshire Live explains that Phil Jagielka, David McGoldrick, and Jack O’Connell are all struggling with injuries ahead of the Blades’ next league game.
Meakin shared his thoughts on how the Blades’ squad is shaping up heading into their next Premier League fixture during a recent edition of the Blades Pod podcast.
He said: “[Due to] the thinness of our squad, this [game against Manchester United] becomes a really difficult shot of winning.”
Meakin goes on to list the players who have been ruled out or are said to have fitness concerns heading into Wednesday’s game, before raising the possibility of Jack Rodwell making what would be his first Premier League appearance for the Blades in this fixture, saying: (54:03) “I think it would be a big surprise if we end up with Rodwell playing, but you never know, do you?”
He goes on to say: (55:27) “It’s worrying. We’re scrambling, aren’t we? The players who are supposed to be fit – as in, the ones who are supposed to be match-fit and have started both of these games, look awful – not to beat around the bush, they’ve looked awful, essentially.
“We’re scrambling for players who actually cannot play and we’re having to shoehorn backups into key positions. We’re in a little bit of a mess for this game.”
Do you want to see Jack Rodwell on the pitch against Manchester United?YES
NO
|
TIF Thoughts…
Considering that they haven’t enjoyed an incredibly successful restart to the 2019/20 Premier League campaign so far, in addition to the fact that now, it appears as though they could be heading into their next fixture with a limited squad of players available, it may not be too surprising that Meakin seems to be somewhat concerned about the Blades’ options going into their Wednesday’s tie.
However, even though their squad is light at the moment, Meakin might be right in saying it would be ‘a big surprise’ to see Rodwell make his first Premier League appearance for the Blades against Manchester United, even though he raises the possibility of that happening amid the club’s current selection crisis – with the midfielder not having made a Premier League appearance since May 2017.