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Full Record of Spurs -v- Sheffield United

Prem          Pl   W   D   L  For-Ag  Pts
Home           6   4   2   0  13 -4   14
Away           5   1   1   3   7 -14   4
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Total(Prem)   11   5   3   3  20 -18  18  1.64 Pts per game
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Football Lge
Home(Div 1)   32  22   6   4  72 -32  50
Away(Div 1)   32   6  11  15  46 -70  21
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Total(Div 1)  64  28  17  19 118 -102 73
========================================
Home (Div 2)   6   2   3   1  17 - 9   7
Away (Div 2)   6   0   2   4   7 -15   2
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Total(Div 2)  12   2   5   5  24 -24   9
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Total(Prem)   11   5   3   3  20 -18  18
Total(Div 1)  64  28  17  19 118 -102 73
Total(Div 2)  12   2   5   5  24 -24   9
=========================================
Grand Total   87  35  25  27 162 -144 100
=========================================

Last Six Premier League results:-

Sheff Utd   -     LLLLLL

Brentford  2-0   Sheff Utd
Sheff Utd  1-4   Burnley
Man Utd    4-2   Sheff Utd
Newcastle  5-1   Sheff Utd
Sheff Utd  1-3   Nottm Fst
Everton    1-0   Sheff Utd

Spurs       -     LLLLWL
           
Newcastle  4-0    Spurs
Spurs      2-3    Arsenal
Chelsea    2-0    Spurs
Liverpool  4-2    Spurs
Spurs      2-1    Burnley
Spurs      0-2    Man City

Pos             P  W  D  L   F-A    GD  Pts
 5. Spurs      37 19  6 12  71-61   10   63
20. Sheff Utd  37  3  7 27  35-101 -66   16

Limping into Europe?

Cast your mind back to Friday October 27th. Spurs beat Crystal Palace on a Friday night at Selhurst Park and were 5 points clear at the top of the league going into the weekend. Ange Postecoglou would win the manager of the month award for the third consecutive time - a record for the opening three months in the Premier League. Spurs were unbeaten after 10 games and had amassed 26 points. Club captain Son Heung-min already had eight league goals to his name. Robbie Williams' "I'm loving Big Ange instead" was top of Spurs' fans chants.

27 games later we have managed 37 more points. Son has added 9 more Premier League goals. We have won 11, drawn 4 and lost 12 of our last 27 games. Such form is asymmetrical to our fantastic start. Nobody realistically saw us as prospective champions, but a place in the Champions League was within our grasp, technically until Tuesday night's home defeat to Manchester City. Enough has been said and written about the circumstances surrounding that game.

The plain fact is that Spurs are limping into Europe. Approaching Sunday's game (all games kick-off at 4pm - ours will not be televised) we are guaranteed a place in Europe, but we do need a point to confirm fifth place and a certain Europa League slot, with no qualifying game. To coin a much-hated phrase, it would be "Spursy" to lose to relegated Sheffield United and for Manchester United to win the FA Cup and claim the other Europa League place. Neither event will happen, surely?

Sheffield United's relegation was confirmed with their 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on April 27th. They have conceded 101 goals in their 37 games so far, 13 of which were to Newcastle. This is the most goals scored by one team against another in the Premier League era.

As a result of their 3-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on 5th May, "The Blades" became the first Premier League team to concede 100 goals since John Gorman's Swindon in 1993/94. Swindon reached that figure on the last day of a 42-game season with a 5-0 home defeat against Leeds.

Sheffield United have conceded an average of three goals per home league game this season. Spurs need to score three goals to maintain that average figure. For the record, I think we will win 3-1.

One of our early season wins was over "The Blades", but that was only achieved courtesy of two very late added time goals by Richarlison and Kulusevski.

Our home win in September gave us our 100th League point against "The Blades". Our first such points also came as a result of a 2-1 home win in November 1909 when Bobby Steel (pen) and Billy Minter scored our goals. We had previously and famously met in the 1901 FA Cup Final.

Paul Heckingbottom was sacked in December following a 5-0 away defeat to Burnley. Chris Wilder was re-appointed but hasn't fared much better winning two league games compared to one under his predecessor. In their defence, United have spent most of the season without injured stalwarts such as John Egan and Chris Basham. Like most teams, they have had other injury problems. Spurs' absentees include, Richarlison, Bissouma, Davies, Udogie, Werner and the lesser-seen Solomon and Sessegnon.

When Chris Wilder was re-appointed, it meant that 25% of the managers in the Premier League were former Watford bosses. The other four at the time were Roy Hodgson (Crystal Palace), Sean Dyche (Everton), Marco Silva (Fulham) and Rob Edwards (Luton Town).

In 1971, having been promoted from Division Two, Sheffield United were unbeaten in their first ten games (making it a run of 21 league games undefeated). One of those games was a 2-2 home draw against Spurs when Alan Gilzean and Martin Peters scored our goals. Peters would end his professional career as player-manager of "The Blades" briefly at the end of 1981 when they were relegated to the fourth tier for one season.

The Sheffield United side back in 1971 included legend Tony Currie (after whom one of the Bramall Lane stands is named). One of their goalscorers was Stewart Scullion, who had been signed from Watford. Scullion played in the Watford side (then in Division Two) who lost an FA Cup Final 5-1 to Chelsea at White Hart Lane. For some reason, I was at that game!

Sheffield United were founding members of the Premier League having spent the preceding two seasons in the top flight. In that first season Brian Deane famously scored the very first Premier League goal in a 2-1 win over Manchester United. Deane scored "The Blades"' second goal too.

Deane also scored against Spurs at Bramall Lane on Tuesday 2nd March 1993 in a 6-0 rout over a Spurs side who had their eyes on an FA Cup quarter-final the following weekend. That was our 4-2 win at Maine Road in which Nayim scored a hat-trick.

Spurs achieved their one and only away win in the Premier League era against United in the Covid-affected January 2021 game when we won 3-1 with goals by Serge Aurier, Harry Kane, and the extraordinary touch by Tanguy Ndombele.

Ndombele remains under contract with Spurs until next summer, but last appeared for Spurs in an official game in January 2022 in the FA Cup against Morecambe. Ndombele's last Spurs goal (he has scored 6 goals in 63 league games for us) came in a 3-2 win at Newcastle in October 2021. Ndombele has since had loan spells with Lyon (who sold him to Spurs) in 2019, Napoli and Galatasaray, for whom he has made just 4 league starts this season.

Sheffield United had a one-year stay in the Premier League in 2006-07. Managed by Neil Warnock, they beat us 2-1 at Bramall Lane in February. After that game, we went on an 8-match unbeaten run which included the famous 4-3 against West Ham at Upton Park. That West Ham side included Carlos Tevez and the squad included Javier Mascherano. West Ham narrowly avoided relegation and "The Blades"' protests regarding the third party ownership of West Ham's Brazilians fell on stony ground.

Sheffield United midfielder Ollie Arblaster celebrated his 20th birthday on 4th May. He made just one start and three substitute appearances for "The Blades" in the Championship last season and spent the first half of this season on loan at Port Vale. Chris Wilder made Arblaster captain at Old Trafford last month in only his eighth Premier League appearance. Arblaster kept the captaincy in United's next game at Newcastle.

A Sheffield United player I have enjoyed watching is 25-year-old Ben Brereton Diaz, who is on loan from Villarreal. He is a Chile international. "The Blades" will surely play with freedom and seek to depart the Premier League with a rare win. Spurs will need to be in similar form to that displayed against City to get the result they need. I wouldn't mind the same formation either.

Andy Madley will be in charge of Spurs for only the second game this season. His other Spurs game was our away win against Crystal Palace. Mr. Madley has refereed "The Blades" four previous times this season, when they lost three and drew one game. Mr. Madley and his assistants - Harry Lennard, and Nick Hopton will be officiating at next week's FA Cup Final.

Did you know - William "Fatty" Foulke was born in Dawley, Shropshire in April, 1874. Foulke played four first class cricket matches for Derbyshire but was "discovered" when he played football for a Colliery team in the village of Blackwell, Derbyshire and played for Sheffield United against Spurs in our historic 1901 FA Cup Final win. Foulke is reputed to have been the first subject of the chant "Who ate all the pies".

Three plaques were unveiled in Blackwell on April 17th, commemorating two 19th century footballers and miners killed in an accident at the local colliery. The two footballers were former Blackwell Collier's, Billy "Fatty" Foulke (1874-1916) and Willie Layton (1875-1944). Beginning their playing careers for Blackwell Miners Welfare FC, both men would go on to play for Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday respectively. Foulke's Sheffield United team beat Derby 4-1 at Crystal Palace in the 1899 FA Cup Final. They also won the cup the year after defeat to Tottenham by beating another non-league club - Southampton in another replayed game. The "Blades" had also won the Division One title in 1897/98 with Foulke a stalwart of the side.

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