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Preston (probable 3-4-2-1) Woodman; Hughes, Lindsay, Whatmough; Potts, Whiteman, Thordarson, Brady; Greenwood, Keane: Riis.
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Subs: Cornell, Best, Theo Mawene, Kesler-Hayden, Osmajic, Holmes, Ledson, Storey, Frokjaer-Jensen.
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Sheffield United (probable 4-2-3-1) Adam Davies; Gilchrist, Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Burrows; Souza, Arblaster; O’Hare, Hamer, Brooks; Moore.
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Subs: Grbic, Peck, Seriki, Marsh, Ben Slimane, Trusty, Souttar, Brewster, Coulibaly.
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Referee Robert Madley.
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Chris Wilder pulls out a shiny new pair of full-backs. On the right: Alfie Gilchrist, just signed on loan from Chelsea, with 11 Premier League appearances in his back pocket. On the left: Harrison Burrows, bought from Peterborough. He hasn’t played in the Prem, but he has scored twice at Wembley – in the same game.
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When you’ve only purchased one player, you’d probably better play him. Stefan Teitur Thordarson, born in Iceland, bought from Denmark, makes his debut tonight in the Preston midfield.
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Hello and welcome to … the new football season. It’s 2024-25, which has a ring to it, don’t you think? Let’s hope it’s as hard to predict as 1974-75, when Everton slipped on a series of banana skins, Liverpool stumbled, Derby squeezed past them both to win the league, and the second-division champions were Manchester United, hotly pursued by Aston Villa.
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Back then Sheffield United were the sixth-best team in the land. Now they’re not just back in the second tier, they’re bottom of it. They start the season on minus two points after being penalised for defaulting on payments last time they found themselves at this level. So the good news is the only way is up. If they win at Preston tonight, and Derby manage a draw at Blackburn, United will go all the way from the bottom to the top (on goal difference).
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You know how football clubs these days fork out colossal sums for questionable assets? Well, these two clubs may be the last of the small spenders. According to Transfermarkt, Preston have forked out just £710,000 over the summer. They blew the lot on Stefan Teitur Thordarson, a regular in central midfield for Iceland.
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As the manager at Deepdale, Ryan Lowe has been unspectacular but steady, steering this grand old club to 13th, 12th and 10th in the Championship, to make it nine successive years of frustrating respectability – always in the top 13, never making the play-off places. After two years and eight months in charge, Lowe is now the second-longest-serving boss in the division, behind Mark Robins of Coventry. But he may not be sitting all that comfortably after finishing last season with five defeats.
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At Bramall Lane Chris Wilder knows how to win promotion from this tier, but has had his hands tied with Sheffield United up for sale. He has let 16 players go, including some great servants such as Oli McBurnie and Oliver Norwood, and has brought in six others at a cost of £4.5m.
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Two-thirds of that went on a bright young left-back from Peterborough, Harrison Burrows, and the rest on a senior citizen from Bournemouth, Kieffer Moore, who looks a shrewd buy as he’s just helped Ipswich go up to the Premier League. But, after receiving a parachute payment that is believed to be £43m, Sheffield United are either saving up for a rainy day or planning a late swoop for Raheem Sterling.
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Kick-off in both games is at 8pm (UK time). I’ll be live-blogging the one and keeping an eye on the other. Back soon with the teams – in the meantime, do settle down with Louise Taylor’s expert guide to the Championship.
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Main Events
And the Olympic gold medal in men’s soccer is…
Spain! They beat France 5-3 after extra time in what the great Rob Smith called “a very entertaining game.”
The whole team
Preston (Probably 3-4-2-1) Woodman, Hughes, Lindsay, Whatmuff, Potts, Whiteman, Thordarson, Brady, Greenwood, Keane, Rees.
Subs: Cornell, Best, Theo Mawene, Kessler-Hayden, Osmagic, Holmes, Ledson, Storey, Flokjaer-Jensen.
Sheffield United (Probably 4-2-3-1) Adam Davies, Gilchrist, Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Burrows, Souza, Arblaster, O’Hare, Hamer, Brooks, Moore.
Subs: Grbic, Peck, Seriki, Marsh, Ben Slimane, Trusty, Sautter, Brewster, Koulibaly.
Judgment Robert Madeley.
Team profile: Sheffield United
Chris Wilder has deployed two shiny new full-backs: Alfie Gilchrist, recently loaned from Chelsea, who has 11 Premier League appearances to his name, on the right, and Harrison Burrows, signed from Peterborough, who has never played in the Premier League but has scored two goals at Wembley. In the same game.
Team Overview: Preston
If you only buy one player, you might as well use him. Stefan Teitur Thordarson, the Iceland-born signing from Denmark, will make his debut in midfield for Preston tonight.
preamble
Hello and welcome to a new football season. 2024-25 sounds good. Hopefully it will be a hard season to predict. 1974-75Everton made one mistake after another, Liverpool stumbled, Derby barely held off both teams to win the league, and Manchester United were crowned second division champions, with Aston Villa in hot pursuit.
At the time, Sheffield United were the sixth-best team in the country. Now they’re not only back in the second tier, they’re bottom of the table. They start the season with minus two points, having been penalized for non-payment the last time they were down this level. So the good news is, there’s no way out but up. If they win at Preston tonight and Derby can hold them to a draw at Blackburn, United will go from bottom to top (on goal difference).
You know how football clubs are spending huge amounts of money on questionable assets these days? These two clubs might be the last of the pocket money. Preston paid just £710,000 in the summer, according to Transfermarkt. They splashed out the full amount on Icelandic central midfield regular Stefan Teitur Thordarson.
As Deepdale manager, Ryan Lowe has been unspectacular but steady in guiding the great old club to 13th, 12th and 10th place in the Championship over nine frustrating years in a row. Although they always finished in the top 13, they never made the play-offs. After two years and eight months in charge, Lowe is now the division’s second-longest-serving manager, behind Coventry’s Mark Robins. But after five losses last season, Lowe may not be so optimistic.
Chris Wilder at Bramall Lane knows how to win promotion from this tier but is left helpless with Sheffield United up for sale, having let go of 16 players, including such fine names as Oli McBurnie and Oliver Norwood, and brought in six others for a cost of £4.5m.
Two-thirds of that was spent on Harrison Burrows, a talented young left-back from Peterborough, and the rest on veteran Kieffer Moore from Bournemouth, who seems like a smart buy having just helped Ipswich win promotion to the Premier League, but with an estimated £43m in hand, Sheffield United are likely either saving for a rainy day or plotting a snap move for Raheem Sterling.
Kick-off for both matches is at 8pm UK time. I’ll be live blogging one game and keeping an eye on the other. I’ll tell you about the teams shortly, but in the meantime, be sure to pore over Louise Taylor’s expert guide to the Championship.
