The Premier League champions play hosts to the rock-bottom South Yorkshire team in an authentic David versus Goliath scenario.
Manchester City are home in their final match of a record-breaking 2023 as lowly Sheffield United come to town for a scheduled beating. What could go wrong here?
The Citizens have defeated the Blades by a single goal in four of their last five league meetings, and they will be wary of their stubborn visitors, who came very close to nicking a result in the meeting earlier this season. Jayden Bogle thought he had earned an unlikely point after 85 minutes of their fixture in August, but Rodri blasted in shortly after to give City the win.
Both sides now find themselves needing the three points for different reasons.
City started their third consecutive title defense with wins in each of their first four games. West Ham and Nottingham Forest were also defeated until Newcastle inflicted a 1-0 loss in the Carabao Cup. Rodri’s untimely suspension was capitalized upon with back-to-back league defeats to Wolves and Arsenal.
That loss to the Gunners was particularly catastrophic as they lost ground at the top of the table but then responded in typical fashion with wins over Brighton, Manchester United, and Bournemouth before drawing 4-4 with Chelsea after one of the most epic games of the season.
Successive draws have since followed in the league as Pep Guardiola’s side also failed to beat Liverpool and Tottenham in key head-to-head clashes. There is a worrying trend of slipping up late on, but they close out the year with a run of more accessible fixtures and the visit of Sheffield is a potentially high-scoring encounter in front of their home supporters.
For the visitors, it is a case of preparing a game plan and hoping for the best, as they are underdogs incapable of beating any decent team at this level. The confidence has been sapped out of the Sheffield United players amidst a chaotic start to their return to the top flight.
The Blades lost their first three matches to Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester City, with the latter being decided by late winning goals. Everton pegged them back for their first point of the season, but they failed to build on it with six consecutive defeats thereafter, most notable being 8-0 to Newcastle and 5-0 at Arsenal.
Sheffield finally grabbed their first win at the 11th attempt with Cameron Archer and Oliver Norwood netting late on. They also forced a draw against 10-man Brighton but lost the next two against Bournemouth and relegation rivals Burnley.
The 5-0 defeat to the Clarets was particularly damaging as after one win and two draws in their first 14 games, change was badly needed, and Sheffield United parted ways with Paul Heckingbottom. The return of Chris Wilder will see them return to the basics and be the compact side they were on their recent vacation to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season.
The Blades will face Liverpool, Chelsea, and Aston Villa before visiting the treble winners, and they must be ready and in the right frame of mind to play well and possibly get a result.
Match tickets
This festive fixture is set to take place at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 30 December 2023 with kick-off scheduled for 3 PM UK time. Indeed, Manchester City vs Sheffield tickets are available for sale via each club’s website.
The stadium will still be sold out as these matches around the festive season are a unique opportunity only available in England. City had a fantastic year, having lifted the treble for the first time in their history, so their fans will be in full voice; their winning streak on home soil is also something to be reckoned with.
Sheffield will have loyal traveling support, and fans who hope to make the trip to Manchester may be lucky enough to find away tickets on a ticket resale site.
Team news
Kevin De Bruyne and Matheus Nunes are unavailable due to injury, with American goalkeeper Zack Steffen also on the road to recovery from an ACL injury.
The Yorkshire club has several injuries to key players, with Chris Basham, Rhys Norrington-Davies, John Egan, Tom Davies, and Daniel Jebbison injured with long-term issues. At the same time, Rhian Brewster may have returned from a knee injury that has kept him out of the last few matches.
Line-ups
Jeremy Doku is a crucial man going into this fixture, as his devastating dribbling and electric pace cause a hard time for full-backs. He will then be required to unlock spaces in the Sheffield backline to create scoring chances for his team.
Doku will be joined in attack by the ever-reliable Erling Haaland, who sits atop the goalscoring standings and will look to find the net here. Rodri will also be influential again as he is tasked with protecting the defense from rapid counter-attacks.
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Silva, Foden, Doku, Alvarez; Haaland
The new Sheffield manager will be looking for immediate improvement from his players, and Chris Wilder has the good fortune of having previously worked with most of these players. Hence, he is capable of inspiring them early on.
Considering their brutal run of fixtures in the festive schedule, they will have to stick to a preferred team with few rotations to allow for continuity between the players.
Sheffield United: Foderingham; Robinson, Trusty, Ahmedhodzic; Baldock, Norwood, Fleck, Thomas; McBurnie, Hamer, Archer
Prediction
City are expected to blow their opponents away by a hatful of goals but their head-to-head record shows Guardiola’s men only score the bare minimum against the Blades. The visitors may be riding on the wave of a new manager bounce, so expect them to give City a typically tough runout.
The defending champions are simply too good, and they’ll indeed find a way to come away with maximum points.
Manchester City 2-0 Sheffield United
