Three more Sheffield United matches have been selected to be shown live on Sky Sports.
The away matches at Swansea City on January 19 and Aston Villa on February 8, as well as Middlesbrough at home on February 13, have all been chosen.
The Blades have played seven times on TV this season, including Friday’s 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. The Boxing Day visit of Derby County to Bramall Lane will also be televised before the year’s out.
United are clearly an attractive proposition for Sky, but unfortunately their form in these games is not so positive.
Blades form on TV
That home loss to West Brom was not an anomaly when Chris Wilder’s men are on the TV. In fact it was their fourth defeat while the cameras were watching.
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The Blades also lost to Swansea on the opening day, at Derby in October and to Leeds United earlier this month. They have also drawn twice in televised matches – to Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United.
In fact United’s only victory when Sky Sports have been in town was the 2-0 triumph at Reading on December 8.
What conclusions, if any, that can be drawn from this are unclear. What is obvious is that when moved away from the traditional 3pm Saturday kickoff, the Blades struggle.
This is particularly the case with an earlier start. United have not won in the four games played either on Friday night or Saturday lunchtime. That doesn’t bode well for the visit to Villa Park on Friday, February 8.
That win at Reading aside, Saturday evenings aren’t much better with two defeats from their three 5.30pm kickoffs.
This is in stark contrast to their form in non-televised games. The Blades have won ten times, drawn twice and lost on three occasions when not on TV in 2018/19.
Let’s hope 2019 sees Wilder’s side becoming less camera shy.