Match Previews

Match preview: Adingra in squad for trip to Sheffield United

Albion head to Bramall Lane for the second time in three weeks on Sunday.

By Charlie Hanson • 17 February 2024

By Paul Hazlewood
Simon Adingra returns to the squad against Sheffield United on Sunday.

Albion face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, kick-off 2pm.

The game is being shown live on Sky Sports, while supporters can also get their live updates from our match centre or our official X account.

Team news

Roberto De Zerbi confirmed that Simon Adingra is in the squad, having returned to training after helping Ivory Coast win AFCON last Sunday. Igor, who missed last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Spurs, also returns but Joao Pedro (knee) and Jack Hinshelwood (foot) are both absent. 

De Zerbi said, "Joao has started working with the medical staff but I don’t know how much time he needs. Jack Hinshelwood is longer than Joao, it’s bad news for him and for us because Jack could play full back or as a midfielder. We will miss him."

Our recent meeting

15:18

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FA Cup Highlights: Sheffield Utd 2 Brighton 5

Albion drew 1-1 at home in the Premier League against the Blades earlier this season, before facing Chris Wilder’s team in the FA Cup three weeks ago. Joao Pedro netted a hat-trick in a comprehensive 5-2 victory for Albion, securing our place in the fifth round.

Player to watch

By Paul Hazlewood
Gus Hamer looks to tackle Joao Pedro during our 5-2 win over the Blades in the FA Cup fourth round.

Summer signing Gus Hamer is having a good first season in the Premier League. The 26-year-old midfielder has started all but one league game this campaign since he joined from Coventry City and that was through suspension. He has two goals and three assists and scored in last month's FA Cup tie against Albion. Capable of playing in various roles in central midfield, Hamer could prove to be a real threat on Sunday. 

How the table looks

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Live League Table Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1
Arsenal
Arsenal ARS
35 25 5 5 85 28 +57 80
2
Manchester City
Man City MCI
33 23 7 3 80 32 +48 76
3
Liverpool
Liverpool LIV
35 22 9 4 77 36 +41 75
4
Aston Villa
Aston Villa AVL
35 20 7 8 73 52 +21 67
5
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs TOT
33 18 6 9 67 52 +15 60
6
Manchester United
Man Utd MUN
34 16 6 12 52 51 +1 54
7
Newcastle United
Newcastle NEW
34 16 5 13 74 55 +19 53
8
West Ham United
West Ham WHU
35 13 10 12 56 65 -9 49
9
Chelsea
Chelsea CHE
33 13 9 11 63 59 +4 48
10
Bournemouth
Bournemouth BOU
35 13 9 13 52 60 -8 48
11
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves WOL
35 13 7 15 48 55 -7 46
12
Brighton and Hove Albion
Albion Albion
34 11 11 12 52 57 -5 44
13
Everton
Everton EVE
35 12 8 15 37 48 -11 44
14
Fulham
Fulham FUL
35 12 7 16 51 55 -4 43
15
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace CRY
35 10 10 15 45 57 -12 40
16
Brentford
Brentford BRE
35 9 8 18 52 60 -8 35
17
Nottingham Forest
Nott'm Forest NFO
34 7 9 18 42 60 -18 30
18
Luton Town
Luton LUT
35 6 7 22 48 77 -29 25
19
Burnley
Burnley BUR
35 5 9 21 38 70 -32 24
20
Sheffield United
Sheffield Utd SHU
35 3 7 25 34 97 -63 16

Match stats

Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last seven league games against Brighton (W4 D3), since a 2-1 home defeat in the Championship in January 2005.

Brighton are winless in all five of their Premier League meetings with Sheffield United (D3 L2) – they’ve only faced Fulham (7) more often without ever winning in the competition.

Sheffield United have conceded more home Premier League goals than any other side (31 in 12 games). In Premier League history, only West Brom in 2020-21 have shipped more goals in their first 12 home matches in a season (32).

Brighton are winless in their last six away Premier League matches (D2 L4), their longest winless run on the road since a seven game run under Graham Potter between September and December 2021.

At Bramall Lane in the Premier League this season, Sheffield United have faced 206 shots (17.2 per game) and 88 shots on target (7.3 per game) in just 12 matches. Since 2003-04, the only side to face more shots per game at home in a season is Wolves in 2011-12 (17.5), while the Blades’ on target faced per game number is the highest at home of any side in that time.

Brighton and Hove Albion have only won one of their last six Premier League games against sides starting the day in the drop zone (D2 L3), conceding 15 goals across these matches.

Brighton completed 394 passes in their 2-1 defeat to Spurs, a drop of 423 from their previous game against Crystal Palace (817) and enjoyed 47.5% possession. It was only the seventh time in 56 Premier League games under Roberto De Zerbi they’d had a minority possession share, with the last two times coming against Spurs (also 45.2% in December).

In their 3-1 win over Luton, Sheffield United went two goals ahead in a Premier League game for the first time since July 2020 against Chelsea (won 3-0), ending a run of 64 games without doing so, while it was only the fourth game this season they hadn’t trailed during the match.

Sheffield United’s Oliver McBurnie has scored in each of his last four Premier League appearances at Bramall Lane but hasn’t ended on the winning side in any (D1 L3). He’s only the second player in Premier League history to score in four home appearances in a row without winning any, along with Carlton Cole between August and October 2009 for West Ham.

Pascal Groß has been involved in nine goals in his last 11 Premier League starts for Brighton (2 goals, 7 assists). However, only one of the German’s 30 goals has come versus a newly promoted team (May 2021 vs Leeds) and he has never scored or assisted against Sheffield United in three games.

Match officials

Referee: Stuart Attwell. 

Assistants: Neil Davies, Steve Meredith. 

Fourth official: Anthony Taylor. 

VAR: Michael Oliver. 

Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.