Fantasy Premier League 2021 Preview of 9th to 12th place

Sheffield United

Fixtures

Attack 54%

Defence 50%

A mixed bag for Sheffield United as they start their second season in the Premier League. In their opening games, they face 2 promoted teams and Aston Villa, but also Wolves, Arsenal and Liverpool! It’s a big season for the Blades. They stunned the league last year with their defensive rigidity and overlapping centre backs, but will they be hit by second season syndrome?

And more importantly for FPL, will the departure of Dean Henderson make their defensive record unsustainable? If not, will that be the end of the Premier League journey as they really don’t score enough to keep themselves up otherwise!

Main (and Defensive) Pick

John Egan/Chris Basham/Jack O’Connell (DEF, 5.0m)

It’s a mark of how good their defence is (and how poor their attack is) that the main thing to worry about with Sheffield is their backline. Any of these 3 will do the job nicely as Wilder doesn’t tend to change his line up much (if at all), and they are all 5.0m. Pick one and stick with them for the season, although best to find decent stretches of fixtures.

Differential Pick

Sander Berge (MID, 5.0m)

If you’re looking for a dirt cheap 5th midfielder who can sit on your bench and drip feed you points, Berge is a good option. He joined the club in January and ousted FPL darling John Lundstram. He won’t score as many goals as the former Lord, but he will play almost every game and that is all you need off the bench!

Steer Clear

Strikers

Sheffield United scored fewer goals than West Ham, Aston Villa and Bournemouth (16th, 17th and 18th respectively). Their strikers did not make the step up to the Premier League and they haven’t been out for any proper replacements this summer. There are rumours they would like Brewster on loan from Liverpool, and if that happens then I’ll be very interested! But otherwise best to avoid them all.