Sheffield United travel to Wolves this afternoon looking to maintain their unbeaten Premier League away record.
The home side are coming off the back of a tough assignment in Portugal in midweek. A 3-3 draw with Braga was hard earned and Nuno Espirito Santo will be looking for his players to keep on performing.
Santo has done an excellent job in guiding Wolves to sixth in the Premier League. He has assembled an excellent squad of players. Within that squad are players from the Championship. Add those players to European Championship winners like Joao Moutinho, and you have the makings of a good team.
Wolves have only lost once at home this season. The Blades, on the other hand, have yet to lose on the road.
Chris Wilder’s men have only won once on their travels but have impressive draws at the likes of Chelsea and Spurs.
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However, this is one of the trickier away ties Wilder and his team will face. Wolves are full of quality and play a system not too different to that of the Blades.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at THREE key dangers the Blades need to wary of this afternoon…
Pace in wide areas
In Diogo Jota and Adama Traore, Wolves have two of the quickest wingers in the Premier League. Both are capable of causing problems on their day.
It represents a difficult task for the Blades to contend with. While Enda Stevens and George Baldock will have to keep and eye on Matt Doherty and Jonny, they’ll need to be wary of leaving their centre-backs exposed to Traore and Jota.
Of course, United can create their own problems going forward but you’d imagine both John Fleck and John Lundstram might have some extra defensive work on their hands this weekend.
Long-range strikes from Ruben Neves
You don’t even need to glance at any stats to know how good Neves is from distance. Nearly every goal he has scored for Wolves has been a screamer from distance.
Indeed, he did it just a few weekends back against Aston Villa.
Sheffield United will have to be on their toes around Neves. Anything breaking towards the edge of the box will need to be pounced on and not giving away silly free-kicks could be crucial too.
Raul Jimenez
No player seems to have grown in stature for Wolves quite like Jimenez has in the last 12 months.
After growing into the season last year, he finished with 13 Premier League goals to his name. He’s since made a permanent move to Molineux. Since that move, he seems to have got even better.
Nine goals (BBC) already this season (six in the Premier League, three in the Europa League proper), show the sort of form he is in. He is Wolves’ main man in the central striking area. The fact the next top goal scorer is on three, shows just how important he is to the team.
Sheffield United will hope for Jimenez – and Wolves – to have an off-day as they look to keep their unbeaten away record.