Sheffield United 1-1 Blues

Starting XI

One change. Emmanuel Longelo makes his professional league debut. Josh Williams steps out of the squad completely.

Game

Sheffield United definitely got out the traps quicker here but Blues did well to stifle them for the most part.

Olly McBurnie had the first notable shot of the game, a tame header from a corner, before a good break ended with Tahith Chong's shot being deflected over. Tommy Doyle's free-kick from a wide position hit the top of the bar, Sander Berge turned well under pressure and fired wide and John Ruddy denied Chris Basham. Despite their territory and possession, the Blades struggle to really carve Blues open.

Ilman Ndiaye had two headers in the second half either side of a Ruddy long punt almost being turned home by Scott Hogan via Troy Deeney. Two goal were scored, both via set-pieces. The first, Auston Trusty and Longelo didn't deal with a ball into the box and McBurnie was able to fire home on the turn. A few minutes later, a cleared corner ended back with Chong whose deliver found Deeney who controlled and fired home from close range.

Blades finished the stronger but Rhian Brewstee couldn't turn home a header or snapshot on the run and Billy Sharp was denied by Ruddy.

Tactics

Two very similar styles at play here with both teams going 3-1-4-2 and looking to utilise width where possible. That meant working the ball wide with central midfielders moving into the channels to work with them and strikers looking to show to feet or get into the box.

The major difference here was the speed of movement in and out of possession, Sheffield United able to play quickly and work the ball into preferred areas in two or three touches rather than each player taking three or four touches and far quicker to make movements into awkward areas for the quick pass. What both sides lacked was clinical decision making once in the final third.

There was a slight change in the Blues press today. With Sheffield United so willing to make central midfield runs into the channel, Blues abandoned the usual decision to make a central midfielder track the run and instead, the wide centre-back switched onto that movement. The midfield trio would then sit in centrally ready to nick possession and break if Blades tried to play or dribble their way into the box.

The other notable tactical ploy was Blues being happy to slow the game down and kill any home momentum. That didn't mean wasting time in the sense it's generally perceived but certainly standing on free kicks, knocking the ball away, taking time to put the ball down at set-pieces etc.

Both sides stuck to their shapes throughout despite a number of substitutions.

Players

The outstanding player for Blues was Deeney. Physically dominant on the ground and in the air, fitter and has found his passing range and has his first goal of the season. Krystian Bielik was excellent in midfield, so press resistant and accurate in how he moves the ball. Maxime Colin had a strong game at centre-half and there were positive signs in how Longelo and Chong linked together down the left.

The big disappointment was Jordan Graham who didn't lack for work ethic but whose delivery was way below par.

For Sheffield United, I find it difficult to look beyond the midfield three. Oliver Norwood doesn't waste a pass while Berge and Doyle got into good areas and were involved in United's better moments.

Anything else?

Blues are no saints so I'm not trying to pretend otherwise. However, I'm curious to know what people think about:

1) Berge's stamp on Bielik

2) Bogle's scything of Bielik from behind in a desperate attempt to stop a counter-attack.

I'm not generally biased on these things but I honestly thought both should have been reds.

Another poor challenge came in from Hannibal Mejbri which was wild and, again, could have gone worse. Credit to George Baldock who took the challenge then got up and walked away rather than making a meal of it as many, including Mejbri himself, would have done.

Tahith Chong came off injured after a saw tackle from Norwood. A tad unfortunate to catch him where he did, I thought. Hopefully it isn't too serious given the impetus and control the ex-United man has given us since returning.

Conclusions

This was an excellent result for Blues. Not pretty but we don't care. Eustace has spoken about making his side hard to beat first and foremost and he is achieving that goal with every player wiling to run through bricks walls at the moment.

It will be interesting to see how things go for the rest of the week. Graham had a poor game and has a tendency not to start games regularly. Longelo definitely tired after the hour mark on his professional debut. Bielik hasn't played three games in a week for some time and Chong may be injured. It means Eustace could shuffle the pack a little bit for upcoming fixtures with James, Hannibal, Hall, Williams and Dean all potentially coming into the side. We face two tough fixtures in Boro away and Bristol City at home so I'm looking forward to seeing how we get on.

What we do now know is that our first choice starting XI is a strong one, something we couldn't say at the start of the season.