EFL Championship 2018/19: Norwich vs Sheffield United

Norwich welcomed Sheffield United to Carrow Road for an entertaining 2-2 draw between two of the Championships top sides. Billy Sharp was on target twice for the Blades as they came back from a losing position on two occasions, pegged back by goals from Onel Hernandez and Teemu Pukki.

Both Pukki and Sharp started the day as joint second highest scorers in the Championship with 16 goals apiece. Sharp raised his tally to 18 while Pukki took his to 17.

While both managers seemed to agree in their post match interviews that the points shared were “fair” and “hard-earned”, ground has been lost on league leaders Leeds United. Their victory over Rotherham saw them move three points ahead of Norwich in second, and six points ahead of Sheffield United who occupy third.

The setups

Both teams went with their regular formations for Saturdays match. Norwich deployed their 4-2-3-1 formation that has proved to be incredibly effective. They implemented their attractive possession-based style throughout the match, with their opening goal coming off the back of a lovely passing move.

German midfielder Tom Trybull kept his place in the starting line up after opening his account for the season last week against Birmingham. He put in another impressive performance in the centre of the park completing 89% of his passes, and making five tackles. The Canaries were, however, still without key defender Timm Klose, who has been a loss to them over the last few weeks.

United went with their fascinating 3-4-1-2 system which has served them so well all season. As we will examine in further detail, the wide centre-backs, Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell, play a big part in the build-up play. They either push on to add extra numbers in midfielder, or rove deep into the opposition half to attack down the flanks.

The Blades also had a new addition to their squad in the starting line up in the form of Gary Madine on loan from Cardiff City. The 6”42 centre forward had a good debut for his new side, offering an extra physical presence up front which United haven’t quite had this season. He managed to win 11 aerial duals throughout the match. The next highest amount won was three.

Wilder’s system

Chris Wilder has made excellent use of an unorthodox iteration of the back-three system at his hometown club Sheffield United. A key feature of the formation has been the unexpected bombing forward of centre-backs Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell, who operate on the right and left of the back three respectively.

This provides United with two attacking advantages. Firstly, it can help them get an extra man in midfield, aiding greatly in build-up play. Below, Basham can be seen stepping up into midfield to give his team an extra option.

The two centre backs can also be seen making bursting runs into the opposition half as far as the penalty area and byline. This can cause a lot of disruption to opposition defences, simply because you do not expect to see an opposition centre-back charging towards your own penalty area. Basham, again, can be seen exemplifying this action below.