West Brom v Sheffield United: Inside track on the Blades

With that in mind, we spoke with Ben Meakin, creator of BladesPod and Sam Parry, from Dem Blades Fanzine to get an inside track on Chris Wilder's side ahead of the hotly anticipated clash at The Hawthorns.

See what they had to say here...

It’s been a season of success so far for the Blades, what have you made of this campaign so far?

BM: It’s been far better than I expected, and I consider myself fairly optimistic among United fans.

We strengthened in key areas in the summer and then added some excellent-looking options in January in Kieran Dowell, Gary Madine and Scott Hogan.

There’s rarely a dull match, we score plenty of goals, and our manager and captain are both Blades. What’s not to like?

DB: I was very confident that Sheffield United would compete this season.

When I say 'compete' I mean I thought that we would be hanging around the edges of the play-offs for most of the season; I thought that we might reach the play-offs come the end of the season, which for us, would be a fantastic season. Offer me play-offs now, I'm not sure I'd take it.

Chris Wilder (and Alan Knill who receives too little credit) have got performance after performance out of this side, and it's worth pointing out that if you remove Ollie Norwood and John Egan from our team, it's a side that cost peanuts.

So, what have I made of this campaign? I think it's been fantastic.

We've thrown away two wins (Rotherham and Villa) and should have four more points. I think think we've played one team who were better than us all season, and that was West Brom in the second half in the home tie.

What can Albion fans expect from this Sheffield United side, what’s the style of play?

BM: This should be two of the most attacking sides in the league going head to head.

While we now have the players (Madine, Dowell) to vary our style a bit, our usual method of play is to get a lot of men forward and create overloads.

Our wingbacks play very high and we get our two wide centre-backs heavily involved to create 2-on-1s out wide.

In the middle we have some excellent technical players in Fleck, Norwood and Duffy who can move us from side to side or play through the lines.

DB: Have you heard of over-lapping centre backs yet? This feature of our game typifies our attacking intent; it's not that we're cavalier, we just breakdown teams in ways that other teams don't try to.

It's a tactic that worked in League One when the Blades faced teams with 11 men behind the ball, it's a tactic that most teams struggle with - who do you pick up when the centre back's boots are touching the white line outside the left-wing back?

Expect us to attack, and expect Gary Madine as our Plan B.

Billy sharp is obviously a player who’s bagged plenty of goals this season - why is he such a threat?

BM: He’s just a master poacher, in a perfect system to get the best out his abilities.

Our game isn’t necessarily about peppering the opposition goal – it’s more about creating 2-3 high-quality chances per game, and Sharp has come into his own there.

He’s never been the quickest, or the strongest, but his anticipation and ability to be in the right place at the right time is basically as good as it gets.

DB: If I knew what made Billy Sharp scored goals I would probably give up my day job and become a football coach.

I feel that, notwithstanding Billy's fitness and commitment and willingness to work for the team, he was that natural instinct: right place, right time.

Sheffield United join West Brom, Leeds and Norwich In battling for automatic promotion - what do you think will dictate who ends up going up, and which two teams do you predict will do it?

BM: I think it’s a four-horse race between pretty evenly matched teams.

Norwich’s movement and skill in attack looks to be at another level, so I’d be really surprised if they didn’t finish in the top two.

Even though plenty of impartial observers and advanced stats tell me that United are probably the best team in the league, we do have some hard fixtures left, not least this one.

I’ve been envious of WBA’s strikers all season so they would probably be my pick for the other top two spot.

DB: (I think you'll find that West Brom are joining Sheffield United!) There's two answers to this. The first is that injuries and suspension will take their toll; a cliche, but it's true.

Our squad has stayed fit for the whole season, and only now have we experienced a niggle to our star centre back Jack O'Connell and suspension to Chris Basham - we've taken seven points from nine in those games.

The second answer is that teams need a Plan B and options up front. I fancy our additions of Gary Madine and Scott Hogan to make us real contenders.

Likewise, the West Brom strike force is undoubtedly the best (on paper) in the League. (I would add, that I think your rookie manager could cost you.)

What’s the expected line-up from the Blades this weekend?

BM: We’ve run into some suspensions and injuries recently, but I hope we’ll be closer to full strength for this one.

Dean Henderson starts in goal, Jack O’Connell and Chris Basham should return to partner John Egan in central defence, with Enda Stevens and George Baldock at wingback.

Fleck and Norwood are almost guaranteed starters, but I would guess we’ll go with the same line-up as our recent away games: Dowell joining them in midfield, then Madine and Sharp up top.

DB: Tough to answer as we've made a few changes recently, and Ollie Norwood is one booking away from a suspension that would see him miss the Sheffield Derby.

It will be 3-5-2. I suspect David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp will start up front and Basham to return at centre-back.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Wilder went for it with 3 up top (McGoldrick, Sharp and Madine).

Are there any injury worries that could alter Chris Wilder’s line-up?

BM: Jack O’Connell has missed the last two games, but it felt like we might have been playing safe by leaving him out of our last match, rather than it being serious.

Right wingback is trickier – George Baldock is our first choice but went off injured a couple of games ago, then his replacement Kieron Freeman got injured at the weekend.

Baldock will hopefully be good to go again, otherwise it’ll be Martin Cranie deputising – he’s filled in really well but doesn’t have the attacking ability of the other two.

DB: RWB: George Baldock has been out for a couple of games, his replacement Kieron Freeman came off in the second half last time out.

CB: Jack O'Connell, who had played 100+ consecutive starts for us before picking up a niggle against Villa, has missed the last two games (though we won both).

What have you made of West Brom from afar this season, do you believe they have what it takes to go up and stay up?

BM: If anything, I’m a little surprised that they’re not doing even better.

Losing Harvey Barnes was a blow, but I like the look of WBA’s January transfer business, particularly Johansen who was superb for Fulham last year.

Plus with Gayle, Phillips, Rodriguez and the rest in attack... It would be a surprise to me if they didn’t go up either automatically or in the play-offs.

DB: As I say, the Baggies at home in the second half blew us away. (Norwich are the best team I've seen more broadly although we've taken four points from them).

I appeared on the Sheffield United podcast 'BladesPod' recently and said that my biggest shock of the season was West Brom not tearing the division apart with what is clearly the best striking options in the league by a distance, and probably ever in Championship history (though I'm sure some will disagree).

That said, from what I saw at the start of the season, to what I see now, I think there has been improvement.

It's a big learning curve for Darren Moore, who has managed 800 games less than Chris Wilder, and I think his inexperience could count against you in the squeaky bum time of the final run in.

Your match prediction?

BM: Even with the quality of attacking players on show, we don’t tend to concede many either – so I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.

DB: West Brom 1-3 Sheffield United (got to be confident right?)

You can follow Ben's work on Twitter by searching for @BladesPod. Meanwhile you can check out work by Dem Blades here.