Pre-Match View From Boro

“This is a bit of a free hit for us as they play so many of our rivals in the next few weeks. I’d take a point, but I hope we dont go out looking for a point. If we win, it could unsettle them going into a very tough run of fixtures. If we lose, it may galvanise them for the following games so everyone around us drops points.If we lose this, it’s not just the points gap that’s increased. It could give them energy for their upcoming run and sent our confidence. Id say thatbwould be the end of automatic chances.
Win, and doubt might creep in for them…. “

“Must win game for our automatic promotion hopes win this the pressure is appliedm. They face Millwall at the Den and Watford after this so some tricky ties for them coming up”

“Unfortunately for Sheff Utd fans their 10 game unbeaten run comes to an end on Wednesday as the mighty Boro turn them over”

“They’re rattled as heck. Their next 10 games:
Boro 3rd
Millwall 5th
Watford 6th
Spurs in the cup
Blackburn 8th
Reading 18th
Luton 4th
Sunderland 7th
West Brom 9th
Norwich 10th
They need a strong start against us because that run is solid and if they lose confidence and form it’ll quickly cost them.”

“We have enough to win this game .. We are playing the best football in my 30+ years as a fan ..
We will rattle them and win comfortably and they will start doubting .. They have a tougher scedule than us and come Saturday the gap “could be as little as 4 points … But if we lose on Wednesday we can forget about top two .. But I think we will see nerves setting in for them very soon .. They have everything to lose .. we have everything to win!”

“They ‘imploded’ just before the World Cup to be fair, they didn’t win for about 4-5 games. Who’s to say that won’t happen again, especially with their next 3 fixtures being teams in the play off chase.”

“There is a lot of tension towards the end of the season when teams are fighting for promotion. I remember under Karanka, when we were top of the league and had gone something like 11 games unbeaten, we had a few poor results and the next thing was Karanka walking out! So far Sheffield have had no-one seriously challenging them for second spot. They are aware of us by now, coming up on the rails and a win on Wednesday would be a psychological blow. Maybe they will start to wobble. They have a much more difficult run in then we do.”

“Their stability in second place has been down to other results.
Thus far – they havent met a challenge from a class side like the Boro, in express-train form.”

“We are too good a team, in too rich a vein of form, to go looking for a point. Set out our stall out as normal, and we could win this.”

“They can’t out football us ……….physically , yes possibly , as they really play as wilder did there . but totally a bully boy team with big CH,S who play for corners /free kicks”

“Their own seem to think they are some sort of footballing side …..they are what they were under Wilder , rough,physical, set piece opportunists who you have to match physically , then do your stuff”

“at our place we battered them and they were extremely fortunate to salvage a point.”

“I think one thing is for certain, Paul Heckinbottom will not be their manager by the end of October – they will likely go up but struggle or stay down and lose half their team”

“Will be tight I think, not sure which way it will go. Take a point? No, it doesn’t do us much good and would rather go at them to win, even if we lose the game. We may as well get 0 points as 1 point, but 3 will make a massive difference.”

“Get the impression that not too many especially SU fans think we can turn them over at Bramhall Lane.
The if only questions arise again due to the start of our campaign where our results were pants and SU were on early fire.
It is a big ask to overturn a 10 point difference but we all know that Boro are a different beast since we last played out our earlier draw.
The blades know they have a game on their hands and will start as quickly as possible, getting that first goal will be key to the result.
As Bob the Builder once famously asked “Can we do it?”…………………………”Yes we can!”
Sheffield United do nor scare me whatsoever”

“Obviously a draw suits them more but I think its them who are more under pressure as they will not be sure whether to stick or twist. Win and its party time for them but lose and the heat does feel real for them. “

“Its the first time Blades have faced a class team in steaming top form – and in 3rd place – to realistically challenge them this season. 10 points may seem a lot, but a win here and a draw there…. Blades dropped three points at home to Rotherham and have had several draws against lower-half teams. Its easy to lose that gap. We have to win and that is it. But it wont be the end of the world – we are more than capable of catching them.
They appear to have a shouty-arrogance, but that could well be their downfall. They`ve compared what they did to us last season – but that was a different team, with a different mentality, physicality, tactics and fitness. Wilders team of twelve months ago bears no comparison whatsoever. Our Management Team and the capabilities of our team an depth of squad, is far superior to last years.
They may have convinced themselves they have the upper hand, but they are fooling themselves. It appears they are really worried.
Some of their aging players may not have the stamina to sustain 90 minutes and, although they have the odd gem in their side, their physicality highlights their lack of technical ability and skill. We are much better than them. They may try to hustle and push us off the ball, but we have the pace and agility to step over them and press forward”

“Apart from beating Burnley 5-2. And beating Coventry 3-1 when Coventry were in 5th place and going like an express train. They beat Millwall 2-0 when Millwall were in 1st place, Blackburn 3-0 when Blackburn were in 1st place and Reading 4-0 when Reading were in 1st place. People forget that Burnley took about 12 matches to get going; during that time there were a lot of teams who briefly bubbled to the top then fell away.
This season for Sheffield Utd has literally been defined by beating teams who were doing better than them before then. Sheffield Utd seem to be at their best against teams around them; their main weakness seems to be against teams in the bottom half who shut up shop against them There’s not really any pressure on them. They can equal their poorest run of form of the season and still end up in the automatic spots. The only issue they might have is complacency..”

“They are talking this up a whole lot more than we seem to be.
The pressure is on them this time. 8 players who started that 4-1 last season will not be involved/starting on Wednesday night.
We are a different beast.”

“I think it’s the opposite tbh!
If they lose, they’re still 7 points ahead of us.
If we lose, they’re out of sight”.

“10 points ahead with a game in hand. Unfortunately they definitely do have the upper hand.”

“They’re anything but rattled. I’d gladly swap our position for theirs. They’re full of confidence and on a great run, ten points clear of the next team with a game in hand.
Doesn’t sound like rattled to, and as they say, it’s just another game along with the others coming up.”

“I genuinely feel a bit bitter (and jealous of course) that Berge has stayed there when he’s far too good for the Championship.”

“If we win then catching them is still possible but unlikely. Anything less then its the playoffs for us.
Regardless, getting anything from this game will be a bonus, three points would be unbelievable.”

“Whatever happens they’re on course for a points total that we won’t achieve. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result, it would keep us ticking over.
Even if we won they would need to implode out of nowhere in the run in and sadly I just don’t see it”

“even with a win, sheffield have a game in hand and could make it 10 point gap again.
having said that, there is some hope. Sheffield are entering their toughest run of games for the season. they play every side in the current top 10 (except burnley) in their next 9 games. millwall, luton, Blackburn, sunderland wba, watford and norwich. So not all hope is lost as they could defo drop some points.”

“I already think its a bit beyond us honestly and them winning would put them 13pts clear with a game in hand. Obviously anything can happen in football but they would have to absolutely capitulate. I’m more concerned about us pulling away from 7th and firmly establishing ourselves in those playoff places.”

“not so sure we will win this at all. look at the Burnley and Sunderland games. we really struggling to get out of 2rd gear in those games. pretty sure we are a better unit now though. we have archer able to press from the front and run in behind. which does give us another dimension and makes it harder to stifle us. looking back at the swansea game. blades must be letting them have possession. if they do the same thing against us pretty sure that will be a mistake. they will probably have a high press and try and overwhelm us with it like last year. but we have hackney in there and even barlaser with mcgree and the other lads all able to pass round a team pressing us. really hope they do try and play that way as i think we will be able to break the press with the current team and really hurt them and push them back.”

“They will do what they did to Swansea and play a high press. I hope we can counter it but can see a Sunderland type siutation”

“Hate to say it but I can only see a Blades win on Wednesday. I think there’s only two sides in the division who can successfully disrupt our style of play – Blades and Burnley.
Pacey, physical press will be difficult to deal with and we’ll have to be incredibly brave on the ball. I’m hopeful we have yet another level as I think we’ll need it Wednesday. “

“Honestly I think they’re just too far ahead. Sheff Utd are a very strong parachute side who are a year further into their journey with their manager than we are. “

“Under Carrick we have played against two teams who were clearly stronger than us: Brighton & Burnley. It did not go well. Though Sheffield Utd are not at the same level, they are one of the two teams in the league who definitely out-class us. Question then becomes, how does Carrick tweak the way we play when we are clear and obvious underdogs to maximise our chance of getting a result? Could claim, with some justification, we were somewhat naïve against Burnley and Brighton so what has he learned from those matches?”

“I’d want all three points for our own sake in cementing a Play Off spot but admit it may make the race for 2nd a bit more tasty should the Blades then consequentially wobble. They seem to be a bit angry with everyone (well us and Wrexham) at the minute which maybe gives an insight into their state of mind and the potential to implode. “

“they bound to be a bit on edge at the moment when you not hearing good things about how the club is being ran at the moment”

“I hate Sheffield United, horrible club with horrible fans.
There behaviour during their win over Wrexham sums them up.
That said they are a very solid side and this will be our toughest game of the season but we can beat them”

“Echoing the previous poster in that I absolutely hate Sheff Utd and their fans but they’re a bloody good team, strong at home and we won’t win this.”

“Echoing alot of the views in here.
I absolutely hate Sheff Utd. “