Searching the Championship to fix Sheffield United’s attack – data analysis

It’s official. After their defeat to the hands of the Manchester United, Sheffield United have endured the worst start to a season in English top-flight history, with just one point from their first thirteen fixtures. This is a stark contrast from their surprise European charge last season, which fell away after the Premier League restart.

They are suffering at both ends of the pitch. At one end, injuries and suspensions to John Egan and Jack O’Connell have not helped. Plus, the downgrade from Dean Henderson to Aaron Ramsdale is noticeable, to say the least. At the other, simply put, they do not create enough quality chances, nor do they finish said chances, and in this analysis, we will aim to solve that by using data insights.

This data analysis will use statistics to find both creative and clinical attackers from within the Championship who could help United’s fight for survival. Our dataset consists of players who have primarily played as a: left-winger, right-winger, central attacking-midfielder, or centre-forward, with at least 450 minutes played in the league. At the end of our analysis, we will highlight two standout attacking midfielders/wingers and two strikers.

All data is correct as of 18/12/20.

Attacking midfielders/wingers: dribbling prowess

Let’s begin by looking at the support behind the centre-forwards, and how strong they are in one-on-one scenarios with the ball at their feet. Through this, not only can a player progress the ball up the pitch, but it can also destabilise opposition defences, which is useful when your attack lacks threat.

Leading the way for dribbles per 90 is Ovie Ejaria of Reading with 9.01. He completes these attempts at a 50.79% success rate, which results in 4.58 successful dribbles per 90. He operates largely as a left-winger in Reading’s 4-2-3-1, becoming one of the standout wide men in the league this season in the process.

Chris Willock, at QPR on loan from Arsenal, ranked highly in both metrics. While he attempts 8.68 dribbles per 90, he completes a respectable 61.67% of them, making for 5.35 successful dribbles per 90 as per Wyscout data. He also operates as a left-winger for QPR, but most of his appearances have come off the bench so far.