Sheffield United attack negative Premier League record

Sheffield are experiencing dark times after their return to the top flight. Together with Burnley, they are at the bottom of the Premier League table and have a very negative record, with the number of goals scored approaching the record in the history of the competition.

Sheffield this season

From the moment we entered the competition, it was clear what direction Sheffield’s season would take. After all, just 1 point from the first 10 games is really not enough. Most of the games ended by a single goal and one could speculate about some bad luck or unfortunate solutions to situations. However, in the 0:8 loss to Newcastle, there was no question of any bad luck or luck of the opponent.

The first win for 3 points came in the 11th round. The decisive goal for 2:1 against Wolves was scored in the 10th minute of the second half, and that too from a penalty. The following week Sheffield followed up with a draw at Brighton and it seemed that the Premier League newcomer would be fighting a tough battle for survival after all.

However, a few weeks later came a 5-0 loss to Burnley, a team freshly promoted. Since then, it’s as if Sheffield’s players have resigned. During the winter transfer window, it was expected that the squad would be strengthened, but no significant changes came. Instead, at the beginning of February, Sheffield once again received an unpopular “Boer” from Aston Villa.

During the last month came another crushing defeat to Brighton and most recently a 0-6 result to Arsenal. 72 goals conceded after 27 rounds is not a glorious calling card for the defence, on the other hand 22 goals scored is also not glorious. Thus, Sheffield has 11 rounds left to improve defensively, otherwise it threatens to gain a not very flattering record.

Record of goals scored

The negative record of the English top flight dates back to the period when the competition was still played by 22 teams. The modern record for the number of goals scored is held by Derby County from the 2007/08 season. In addition, Derby recorded the lowest number of points (11) in that season. Their only win of the season came against Newcastle in a 1-0 win.

Another negative aspect of this season is the number of goals scored. More precisely – in how many matches Derby failed to score a goal at all. In 22 matches Derby went away with 0 goals scored and in 4 cases 6 goals received. 89 goals scored in 38 games says it all. Sheffield are very close to that number.

Historically, Swindon Town have the most goals scored, it is an even 100 goals from the 1993/94 season. To date, this is Swindon Town’s only participation in the top English competition. The goalkeeper has caught the ball out of the net on 5 occasions at least 6 times.

Sheffield’s current team is still a long way off that rounded figure, but recent performances are calling for attention to this record. The Swindon Town team would certainly not be angry for rewriting their record, on the other hand they would like to remain at least somehow etched in Premier League history.

Source: Premier League, 90min