West Ham United manager David Moyes has been giving his opinion of Sheffield United ahead of their Premier League meeting on Sunday.
Moyes has also been discussing his opponent in the dugout this weekend, Chris Wilder.
The Blades host West Ham at 2pm on Sunday in both sides’ first fixture following the latest international break.
They are two teams in contrasting form, despite a relatively similar run of games.
In their first eight matches, both have already played last season’s top two – Liverpool and Manchester City. They have also both faced Arsenal, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But while the Hammers won two of those and also drew with Man City, Wilder’s men have just a solitary point.
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They’re bottom of the table, while their East London opponents are 10 points and eight places above them.
“They’ve had a very similar run of games to us at the start of the season,” Moyes said in his pre-match press conference.
“They’ve also had a couple of injuries to key players.
“They’ve got a really good manager and a good group of players who have been around together for a long time, and that will make them strong which they can use as the season goes on.”
Does Moyes have a point? And why West Ham game is huge
The Blades have certainly battled with injury problems so far this term.
Jack O’Connell won’t play again in 2020/21, but there is better news when it comes to John Fleck and Lys Mousset.
Fleck could be fit enough to make the bench this weekend. The game will come a little too soon for Mousset, but he too is back training.
The South Yorkshire side have made the joint worst start to a campaign in Premier League history. Only two teams in the past have stayed up after taking one point from their first eight matches.
If the Blades are to become the third, then they need to be targeting three points against West Ham.
They had a difficult run of Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea in successive fixtures before the international break.
Now they face the Hammers, followed by West Bromwich Albion.
No more excuses – it’s time to start winning, or relegation starts to become a very real prospect.