Brighton vs Sheffield United Match Stats Preview
Brighton are winless in their last six home league games against Sheffield United (D3 L3), since a 2-0 win in the second tier in May 1987.
Sheffield United have never lost a Premier League game against Brighton (W2 D2), scoring exactly one goal in each of their four meetings.
Brighton and Hove Albion have both scored and conceded in their opening 11 Premier League games this season. The last side to do that in their opening 12 top-flight matches of a season were Liverpool in 1966-67.
Sheffield United ended a run of 10 winless Premier League games (D1 L9) with their late victory over Wolves on MD11. The Blades haven’t won consecutive games in the top-flight since July 2020 – indeed, that was the last time they avoided defeat in back-to-back games, with this their 53rd game since then.
Brighton are winless in their last five Premier League games (D3 L2), their longest winless run since winning none of their first five under Roberto De Zerbi last October. The Seagulls last had a longer run between February and April 2022 (seven in a row).
Sheffield United have lost 23 of their last 26 away Premier League games (W2 D1), losing all five games this season. The last side to lose their first six away games in a Premier League season was the Blades in 2020-21 under Chris Wilder.
Brighton completed 778 passes in their 1-1 draw with Everton, the most by a team in an away Premier League game since May 2021 (871, Man City at Newcastle). Since Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge last October, Brighton are second for successful passes (22,292), average possession (62.2%) and accuracy of passing (87.4%) in the top-flight, behind Manchester City in all three categories.
A teenage player has appeared in 37 of Brighton’s 43 Premier League matches under Roberto De Zerbi (86%). Among managers to take charge of at least 25 games, only Eddie Gray (100%, 25/25) and Sven-Göran Eriksson (95%, 36/38) had at least one teenager in a higher percentage of matches. Indeed, a teenage James Milner played in all 25 of Gray’s games for Leeds United in 2003-04, with Milner starting Brighton’s last game aged 37.
Since his first Premier League start last October, Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma has progressed the ball further upfield with his ball carries than any other non-defender (4,856 metres) and is second overall to teammate Lewis Dunk (4,974m).
Oliver Norwood’s winning penalty for Sheffield United against Wolves was timed at 99 minutes and 17 seconds, the third-latest winning Premier League goal on record (since 2006-07). Norwood had four shots in the match, his most ever in a Premier League game in what was his 80th appearance.
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