West Brom were awarded three points and a 3-0 win over Sheffield United on this day in 2002, as the fallout continued after ‘the Battle of Bramall Lane’.

Five days after the Division One clash had been abandoned by referee Eddie Wolstenholme, the Blades were left to deal with the repercussions of a shameful afternoon.

Following the dismissal of Blades goalkeeper Simon Tracey for handling outside his penalty area after only nine minutes, events turned significantly more toxic when Baggies captain Derek McInnes added to Scott Dobie’s first-half diving header to put the visitors 2-0 up on the hour.

Seconds after his arrival as a 64th-minute substitute, United defender Georges Santos – who had suffered a fractured eye socket courtesy of Andy Johnson’s elbow the previous season – was sent off after launching into a two-footed tackle on the Baggies midfielder.

In the subsequent mass brawl which followed, fellow Blades substitute Patrick Suffo was also dismissed after head-butting McInnes right in front of the referee.

Dobie made it 3-0 before Blades midfielder Michel Brown and defender Rob Ullathorne then both limped off, leaving the home side with only six men on the field – one of which being substitute goalkeeper Wilko De Vogt who had come on in place of striker Peter Ndlovu after Tracey’s red card.

That resulted in the match being abandoned with eight minutes remaining due to there not being the required number of minimum players present.

A war of words followed between infuriated West Brom boss Gary Megson, who labelled the situation “disgraceful”, and Blades manager Neil Warnock – who said he was “pleased with the effort” his players put in.

The English Football League subsequently ruled the result should stand and Sheffield United were later fined £10,000 for failing to control their players.

There were also fines for Warnock and Blades captain Keith Curle while Suffo and Santos were both handed six-match bans.

West Ham and Sheffield United reached an out-of-court settlement over the long-running Carlos Tevez affair on this day in 2009.

The Blades had demanded compensation of up to £45million following their relegation from the Premier League in 2007 – a demotion they insisted would not have occurred had Tevez not excelled for the London club.

West Ham had breached rules over third-party ownership when signing Tevez and his fellow Argentina international Javier Mascherano the previous summer.

The pair had arrived at Upton Park in a surprise, headline-grabbing move from Brazilian club Corinthians but it later emerged the rights to the players were partially owned by their agent Kia Joorabchian’s company, Media Sports Investment.

This contravened Premier League regulations and the club were fined a record £5.5million.

This did not go far enough for some clubs, however, who felt the relegation-threatened Hammers should have been deducted points.

The Blades went on to pursue their own claim after it was they, and not West Ham, who went down after a dramatic battle for survival went down to the wire.

Exacerbating the issue for them was the fact that Tevez was outstanding. After a quiet start to the season, the forward burst into life in the run-in. He scored seven goals in the Hammers’ final 10 games of the campaign, including the winner at Manchester United on the last day of the season to clinch survival.

The Yorkshire club were relegated after losing 1-0 to Wigan in their concluding game, a result which – just to add to the theatre – ensured Latics stayed up.

Two years of legal wrangling followed as the Blades sought some form of redress. Final details of the settlement were not revealed at the time but Sheffield United reportedly received a sum of around £20million. This was way below their initial demand but they declared it a “satisfactory settlement”.

“For everyone concerned, the time was right to draw a line under this whole episode,” the clubs said in a joint statement.

Chris Wilder watched Sheffield United draw 2-2 at Bournemouth, then praised them for bouncing back from the heavy loss to Arsenal.

The Blades looked to be heading for only their second away win of the season as goals from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson gave them a 2-0 lead in Dorset.

However, Bournemouth netted twice in the last 16 minutes through Dango Ouattara and Enes Unal to rescue a Premier League point.

Wilder, whose team were beaten 6-0 at home by the Gunners, said: “We rolled over on Monday so any sort of result today off the back of what happened would have been a good a good result and we’ve got that.

“We are off the bottom and it was like a war zone at the end, with bodies everywhere. Everybody had cramp.

“I said this morning that the players needed to show more and that it was about attitude over ability.

“The narrative from everybody is that we are done and I don’t think that was the case today. We just have to fight and battle away for it and who knows what happens between now and the end of the season?

He continued: “We have to just keep going and look at that next performance. We have got nine or 10 games left, that’s a quarter of the season.

“Hopefully this will give us a little bit more belief going into the next home game.”

In a pulsating game where the two teams racked up 45 shots between them, Bournemouth were awarded a penalty with just 14 minutes played after Tom Davies clumsily brought down Dominic Solanke from behind.

Solanke stepped up in search of his 15th Premier League goal of the season but lost his footing just as he was about to address the ball,  ballooning it over the crossbar off his standing left foot.

The home side’s misery was compounded when United took the lead against the run of play in the 27th minute as Hamer fired into the roof off the net after Jaydon Bogle’s initial effort had been parried out by Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto.

In the 64th minute Neto punched a corner against Solanke’s back, sending the ball kindly into the path of Robinson at the far post and the centre-back fired home off the inside off the post.

The luckless Solanke had a close-range goal ruled out for his handball following a VAR review, but they did pull a goal back 16 minutes from time when Ouattara was left totally unmarked to head in Ryan Christie’s corner from four yards.

Unal then rifled home at the far post in the first minute of added time to claim his first goal in English football and break the Blades’ hearts after they had failed to properly clear a corner.

Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said: “I don’t think it was a good result for us. We wanted the three points.

“We finished the game a lot stronger than they did and created some chances but could not get the third goal.”

Enes Unal came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal in stoppage time as Bournemouth fought back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to relegation-haunted Sheffield United.

Strikes from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson looked to have earned the struggling Blades only their second away win of the season.

However, goals from substitutes Dango Ouattara and Unal in the final 16 minutes earned the hosts a point from a pulsating game in Dorset.

The Cherries were awarded a spot-kick with just 14 minutes played after Tom Davies clumsily swept Dominic Solanke off his feet.

Solanke stepped up in search of his 15th Premier League goal of the season but lost his footing just as was about to address the ball and ballooned it over the crossbar off his standing left foot.

The Cherries were then thwarted by an excellent 25th minute save from Ivo Grbic, who turned away Antoine Semenyo’s low shot from the edge of the 18-yard box.

The visitors took the lead against the run of play two minutes later courtesy of Hamer’s fourth goal of the campaign.

Hamer set Jaydon Bogle free down the right and when his initial shot was beaten away by Neto the former Coventry playmaker was on hand to fire the rebound into the roof of the Bournemouth net.

Croatian Grbic made another superb save to push Semenyo’s powerful close-range header from a Ryan Christie cross behind for a corner,

In first half stoppage time Neto saved awkwardly from Tom Davies’ header, before McBurnie nodded straight at the home goalkeeper from a corner.

Bournemouth started the second half on the front foot in search of an equaliser and Christie should have done better five minutes after the restart than firing over after good footwork from Marcus Tavernier had create the opportunity.

Neto had to be on alert to push wide Oliver Arblaster’s cross-cum shot but it was the goalkeeper’s mistake from the resulting corner that helped United double their lead in the 64th minute.

Neto punched the corner against Solanke’s back, sending the ball kindly into the path of Robinson at the far post and the Blades captain fired home off the inside off the post, with the goal decision system showing it had crossed the line before the Bournemouth goalkeeper clawed it away.

Bournemouth thought they were back in the game moments later but the luckless Solanke’s close-range effort was ruled out for a handball by the England international following a lengthy VAR review.

They did pull a goal back 16 minutes from time when Ouattara was left totally unmarked to head in Christie’s corner from four yards.

And after Ouattara missed a free header, Turkey international Unal rifled home at the far post in the first minute of added time to break the Blades’ hearts and deny them two points.

Jorginho believes relentless Arsenal are approaching the Premier League title race with more maturity than last season.

The Gunners were top of the table for a total of 248 days last term before ultimately slipping behind Manchester City in the run-in.

Pep Guardiola’s men are again in the running this time, with the holders sandwiched between leaders Liverpool and Arsenal as the season enters the final straight.

Just two points separate the table-topping Reds and third-placed Gunners, who ran amok at sorry Sheffield United in a 6-0 Monday mauling.

“The performance of the squad (was great) and the mentality to start strong and carry on the momentum,” Jorginho said.

“It was really, really good to see a team playing forward and want to keep going.”

Asked what is different about the team this year compared to the one that just fell short last season, the Italy international added: “I think the maturity.

“We are way more mature how we compete and how we manage the games. I think that’s it.”

That mentality led Mikel Arteta’s side to race out of the blocks, racking up a five-goal lead quicker than any away side in Premier League history – Declan Rice making it 5-0 in the 39th minute.

Ben White’s second-half thunderbolt completed the rout, scoring the club’s 10,000th goal on a night they became the first English league side to win three consecutive away games by five or more goals.

“We are pleased that we are doing all this good stuff, but we need to carry on,” Jorginho said.

“Because if we just think ‘oh yeah, nice, it’s done’… no, we just need to put your head down and keep pushing, being humble and keep going.

“We need to not be just happy for what we are doing. Of course, we are happy but we want to keep being happy.

“So, to be like that we just need to keep pushing and working hard.”

Arsenal’s seventh Premier League win on the bounce pushes shambolic Sheffield United further towards an immediate return to the Championship.

The Blades also made history on Monday, becoming the first English side to lose three consecutive home league games by at least a five-goal margin.

It was the kind of performance that raises questions over Chris Wilder’s future but the United boss says it only strengthened his drive to rebuild his boyhood club.

“It cements it,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned in a way I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll strengthen my resolve to get this right because it’s a big job, we understand that.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described his side’s 6-0 thrashing of Sheffield United as “a great night” as they climbed to within two points of leaders Liverpool.

The Gunners dominated from start to finish against a Blades team who looked well beaten after Martin Odegaard, Jayden Bogle’s own goal and Gabriel Martinelli had put them 3-0 behind inside 13 minutes.

Kai Havertz and Declan Rice put the irrepressible Londoners 5-0 ahead at half-time and Ben White crashed home their sixth before the hour mark.

Arteta, whose side’s seventh straight league victory saw them become the first English league side to win three consecutive away games by five or more goals, said: “It was a great night.

“The way we started made a difference. We were really aggressive and positive and we showed real quality in the final third to take the game into a great position for us.

“Then we maintained the rhythm, maintained the hunger and I love that about the team.”

Arsenal struck their fifth goal in the 39th minute, the earliest an away side has had a five-goal margin in Premier League history.

But Arteta warned his side they cannot afford to drop any points between now and the end of the season if they are to pip Liverpool and Manchester City to the title.

“The fact that we’re scoring many goals and not conceding is a great sign, but it’s about winning every game now,” the Spaniard said.

“That’s the demands these two teams have set over the past few years and that’s the task ahead of us.”

Arteta confirmed Bukayo Saka was withdrawn at half-time due to illness, while Martinelli was replaced by Gabriel Jesus in the 64th minute after cutting his foot.

“We need to wait and see how it is,” added Arteta on Martinelli’s setback, which was the only downside to the evening.

Rampant Arsenal made history with a 6-0 win away to shambolic Sheffield United as Mikel Arteta’s side moved back to within two points of the Premier League summit.

Having seen title rivals Liverpool edge past Nottingham Forest and Manchester City defeat Manchester United, Mikel Arteta’s men knew they had to respond at the Championship-bound Blades.

Arsenal did so in style and could easily have struck more than the five first-half goals they managed at Bramall Lane, where the Monday evening mauling was completed by a Ben White thunderbolt.

This was the Gunners’ seventh straight Premier League win and saw them become the first English league side to win three consecutive away games by five or more goals.

By contrast, the Blades have now conceded five or more in four successive home games in all competitions – not exactly the fight boss Chris Wilder promised from his rock-bottom side.

Instead, United fans watched one the most humiliating first halves in Premier League history, with a Jayden Bogle own goal coming between efforts from Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in the opening 15 minutes.

Kai Havertz and Declan Rice made it five by the half-time, which was greeted by boos from the Blades fans who had not already headed for a pint or an early exit.

White brilliantly fizzed home Arsenal’s sixth – the 10,000th goal in club history – as Arteta rung the changes, including taking off injured Martinelli after withdrawing Bukayo Saka at the break.

Mikel Arteta is not setting a points total he believes will deliver the Premier League title – but the Arsenal boss has warned the rest of the season may have to be perfect if they are to do so.

The Gunners travel to bottom club Sheffield United on Monday night knowing victory will once again see them close to within two points of Liverpool at the summit.

Reigning champions Manchester City are also locked in the three-way tussle for the title as Arteta aims to bring the Premier League crown back to Arsenal for the first time in 20 years.

Asked how many points might be required to win the league this season, the Spaniard replied: “You always ask me this question and I never get it right.

“The demands, you might have to win every game. I don’t know. I have no clue.

“There are a lot of games and we are all going to have crazy schedules and this league might be different to last season. Anything under 90 points I think it (winning the league) would be very difficult.

“We have to improve in every aspect, that is all, all managers try to be better in what we do.”

Arsenal were top of the table at this stage last season and led the pack for a total of 248 days before ultimately slipping behind City in the run-in.

“I think we are where we deserve to be,” Arteta said on Arsenal’s current standing.

“We could probably be a little bit better in terms of the points that we have deserved in the league

“Being (back) in the Champions League is another step – that makes obviously the challenge more difficult and the amount of injuries that we had I think we are going good but we want to do better.

“The target is clear. It’s to be better every day so that when it comes to the weekend, earn the right to win and do everything you possibly can to win the game.

“This is the focus and the way I see them training every day gives me  more confidence and more reasons to believe that we have a good chance because they really want it.”

Mikel Arteta knows his free-scoring Arsenal side could rely on goal difference if they are to win the Premier League this season.

Despite heading into the weekend two points off the top of the table in third, the Gunners now boast the best goal difference in the league.

Arteta’s side have doled out 6-0, 5-0 and 4-1 wins in their last three league games and have an aggregate of 25-3 since the turn of the year.

That sees them ahead of title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City and, with a three-way title race that could go down to the wire, Arteta believes everything will count.

“Yes, for sure,” he replied when asked if the goalscoring record will be important by the end of the season.

“First of all you have to earn the right to win the games and then we want to be ruthless and efficient in front of goal. Lately I think we’ve been really good.

“In the last 15 or 20 minutes against Newcastle we could maybe have done a bit more, and we have to continue to do that especially when you bring the subs in because they can re-energise the team and continue at a really high level. It’s something that we want to continue to do.”

Arteta will back his side to continue a good run in front of goal as they face bottom club Sheffield United on Monday night, with the Blades having shipped a league-high 66 goals this season.

“With every team we look at the weaknesses and the strengths, and we look to take the game where we want,””Arteta said of facing Chris Wilder’s side.

“I’m saying this because I know that team very well. I analysed it many years ago and I learnt from Chris’ teams and I’m telling you it’s going to be a really tough match.


 
“They are a really difficult team to beat. I’ve watched their last four or five games now. With the City game, against Villa the game took a different route, but they are extremely well-coached.

 

“I know Chris Wilder really well and I admire a lot of what he does with his teams. It will be Monday night football and it’s gonna be a tough night.”

Arsenal could welcome back Thomas Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko for the game after the pair both recovered from injury.

Jurrien Timber will not travel, but is closing in on a comeback from a serious knee injury suffered on his Premier League debut in August.

Jorginho will be hoping to keep his place in the side, too, with Arsenal planning on to open contract negotiations with the Italy midfielder following a string of standout performances.

The 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, but the PA news agency understands that a one-year deal with the option of a further year is planned as an opening point for talks.

Jorginho joined Arsenal from London rivals Chelsea last January and has so far made 41 appearances across all competitions, scoring once and put in a man-of-the-match display against Newcastle last weekend.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder dismissed the clash between Blades team-mates Jack Robinson and Vini Souza in the defeat at Wolves.

The pair squared up, went head-to-head and engaged in a shoving match during Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League loss at Molineux.

Pablo Sarabia’s winner condemned the visitors to a 19th defeat in 26 games and left them eight points from safety at the bottom of the table.

But, despite their plight and players’ frustrations boiling over, Wilder insisted there were no issues.

“That happens at every club up and down the country, three or four times a year,” he said. “Of course you can’t condone it, it has to stay at a level, we have a responsibility to the young kids out there playing.

“That happens behind closed doors at every level, at Man City and the bottom of League Two.

“You don’t want to see it but it does. VAR spotted it and for me, you just move on pretty quickly. They were told about their responsibilities at half-time. We talked to the boys and they are fine and cool.

“We’re a team who is learning in the Premier League, learning on the job and our opponents have been building for quite a while.

“We were competitive. We haven’t got the result but my frustration and criticism of the team are about the big moments. We had enough territory and we have to find that quality they found.

“I believe we played well enough. If you play well you have to come away with something and that’s my frustration and criticism.”

Rhian Brewster and James McAtee tested Jose Sa but the Blades’ threat faded quickly and Sarabia won it after 30 minutes.

He met Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross with a glancing header – having escaped Yasser Larouci – which found the top corner.

Pedro Neto fired over as Wolves looked for a second, which sparked the confrontation between Robinson and Souza, with VAR opting not to send either off for violent conduct.

The ill-disciplined Blades never recovered and, while there was plenty of second-half effort, they lacked the quality to punish Wolves.

Brewster’s half-chance at the far post, with his sliding effort forcing Sa into action, was the best they created.

Sarabia shot wide for Wolves, who rose to eighth to maintain their hopes of returning to Europe next season.

Boss Gary O’Neil said: “We struggled to find the correct solutions in the second half and a lot of that is on me. That second-half performance gets us nowhere near Europe.

“The lads have done incredibly well and maybe I’m being slightly hard on today, you have no divine right to win, but the second-half performance looks a long way from a team pushing to Europe.

“I’m really pleased with the win. Up to eighth but it’s probably the worst I’m going to feel for the next hour, being eighth, because I was really disappointed with the second half.

“We had to show grit, determination and dig in. I thought the lads were excellent in sticking together.”

Sheffield United players fought amongst themselves as they slumped to another damaging Premier League defeat in a 1-0 reverse at Wolves.

Team-mates Jack Robinson and Vini Souza clashed in the first half with the ill-disciplined Blades left rooted to the bottom of the table following the narrow loss.

The pair squared up with the visitors already behind to Pablo Sarabia’s first-half header and they will need to channel any further fighting spirit into a survival bid which looks increasingly doomed.

Chris Wilder’s side are eight points from safety and another poor performance offered no hope for their chances.

In contrast, the victory was Wolves’ first top-flight win at Molineux this year and lifted the hosts to eighth as they maintain a surprise European challenge.

They are a point behind Brighton in seventh as Gary O’Neil’s men continue to impress and dismiss the predictions of a season of struggle.

Wolves, though, were not at their best at Molineux but did not have to be to beat the Blades.

It took until the 18th minute for some serious action when Rhian Brewster was left unmarked to test Jose Sa, after Craig Dawson blocked his initial effort.

The former Liverpool youngster then had a second opening five minutes later, only to shank his shot wide under pressure from Toti Gomes.

Despite bossing possession, Wolves struggled to open the visitors up and it was O’Neil’s men who conceded the chances.

James McAtee became the latest wasteful Blade when he fired straight at Sa, having escaped from Dawson on the left and United’s misses proved costly after 30 minutes.

Yet again the visitors’ soft underbelly became their greatest issue as they conceded goal number 66 of the season.

Yasser Larouci was caught napping, allowing Sarabia to arrive unchecked to meet Rayan Ait-Nouri’s inviting cross and glance a looping header into the top corner.

With it, Sheffield United cracked with Robinson and Souza pushing and trading blows after Pedro Neto shot over.

In December Wilder had called for his players to “swing some punches” in the battle against relegation – though he would not have expected them to take his words so literally.

VAR gave the pair a pass but the Blades had lost their discipline and needed half-time to regroup.

They did manage to put Wolves under mild pressure and McAtee dragged a shot wide but there was never a sense Wilder’s side would equalise.

Brewster tested Sa as United’s momentum faded and Sarabia went close to a second when he curled wide just after the hour.

A pedestrian half rarely found its groove, though, and the visitors never had Wolves on the ropes as they suffered another knockout blow in the Premier League.

Sheffield United have condemned the racist abuse received by Mason Holgate in the wake of Sunday’s game against Brighton.

Holgate was sent off in the 13th minute for a reckless thigh-high challenge on Kaoru Mitoma, with the VAR advising referee Stuart Attwell to upgrade an initial yellow card to red.

Brighton went on to win 5-0 at Bramall Lane and Holgate subsequently received racist abuse on social media which he has shared on his Instagram account.

“I can only apologise for letting my team-mates, club + fans down on the weekend & have done so this week personally,” Holgate wrote.

“However, the last 48 hours have been difficult to take… the constant racist abuse across my social media… here are some of the messages!

“As a sport + society we need to do more and there needs to be consequences for Racism!”

Holgate’s club said in a statement: “Sheffield United condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the racist abuse received by Mason Holgate following Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion.

“We will support Mason and applaud him bringing this to light on social media. The club will work with relevant bodies to investigate. There is no room for racism in our game.”

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has been fined £11,500 by the Football Association for his biting remarks about a sandwich-eating assistant referee.

Wilder was offended when he spotted one of referee Tony Harrington’s assistants chowing down when the Blades manager went to see him after their 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace last month.

Wilder, who has accepted the charge, branded the sight as a “complete lack of respect” and also called Harrington’s performance “ridiculous” in an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield after the game.

An FA statement read: “Chris Wilder has been fined £11,500 for media comments that came after Sheffield United’s game against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Tuesday 30 January.

“It was alleged that the manager’s comments constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias and/or attack the integrity of the referee, or referees generally, and/or bring the game into disrepute.

“Chris Wilder accepted this charge, and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed his fine following a hearing.”

Wilder’s fine follows a charge issued to him on Valentine’s Day over the rant, in which he said: “It’s yet again another ridiculous performance from the referee.

“Every 50/50 or tight decision goes against us and if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with between now and the end of the season, we’re going to deal with it.

“But I’m not just going to go under the radar and not say anything. I’ve been to see the referee and I’ve told him that.

“One of his assistants was eating a sandwich at the time, which I thought was a complete lack of respect. Hopefully he enjoyed his sandwich while he was talking to a Premier League manager.”

Sheffield United’s fifth defeat of the season by five goals or more leaves Chris Wilder’s side facing the prospect of setting several unwanted Premier League records.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how their defensive record compares to the worst in the top flight’s modern era.

Blades cut down

United have lost 18 of their 25 league games this season, with only three wins, to prop up the table on 13 points – but even those figures do not fully illustrate their struggles.

They were beaten 8-0 by Newcastle at Bramall Lane in September and have lost their last two home games 5-0 to Aston Villa and Brighton, with further defeats by that scoreline at Arsenal in October and relegation-rivals Burnley in December – after which they sacked manager Paul Heckingbottom and reappointed Wilder.

Only two teams in Premier League history have previously conceded five goals or more on five occasions in the same season, though both went on to add a sixth.

Swindon’s 1993-94 relegation season included them losing 5-0 at home to Liverpool and Leeds as well as away to Villa, 5-1 at Southampton, 6-2 at Everton and 7-1 at Newcastle. Among Derby’s 29 defeats – in their 11-point season in 2007-08 – they lost 6-0 at Liverpool and at home to Villa, 5-0 at Arsenal and at home to West Ham, 6-1 at Chelsea and 6-2 to Arsenal.

The Blades had Mason Holgate sent off against Brighton when the game was still goalless to add to his nightmare season.

The defender is on loan from Everton, having spent the first half of the campaign at Championship side Southampton. In both loan spells, Holgate made his debut in a 5-0 defeat for his side – for Saints at Sunderland and the Blades against Villa.

Record pace

United have conceded the most goals ever through 25 games of a Premier League season, 65, and will need to improve to avoid breaking records for defensive futility set by the aforementioned Swindon and Derby teams.

The most goals conceded in a Premier League season is 100, by Swindon in their 42 games that season. Derby set the worst of the 38-game era, 89, as they also recorded the worst points total (11) and goal difference (-69) in any Premier League campaign.

The Blades have conceded an average of 2.60 goals per game, worse than Derby’s 2.34 and Swindon’s 2.38. Indeed, they are on course to concede 99 goals this season (98.80 at their average of 2.60) so are even at risk of breaking Swindon’s 42-game record.

An average goal difference of -1.72 per game over a 38-game season equates to -65.36, within four of Derby’s record.

They have at least already passed the Rams’ 11-point tally but they – and Burnley, also on 13 – could join only six previous teams who finished with under 20 points.

Their current 0.52 average per game equates to 19.76 over a full season, so any further drop-off would see them in the unwanted company of the Sunderland sides who managed just 19 points in 2002-03 and 15 in 2005-06, Portsmouth’s 19 in 2009-10, Villa (17 in 2015-16), Huddersfield (16 in 2018-19) and that history-making Derby team.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder revealed Mason Holgate apologised to his team-mates after his red card in the 5-0 home defeat to Brighton.

Holgate was sent off in the 13th minute for a reckless thigh-high challenge on Kaoru Mitoma, with the VAR advising referee Stuart Attwell to upgrade an initial yellow card to red.

The Blades were put to the sword in the remaining 77 minutes as goals from Facundo Buonanotte and Danny Welbeck, Simon Adingra’s double and a Jack Robinson own goal gave the Seagulls their second victory at Bramall Lane in three weeks after a 5-2 fourth-round FA Cup romp last month.

Things might have been different had Holgate, who looks set to be fined by the club, kept his cool and Wilder says the defender knows he “got it wrong”.

“He has apologised to the boys, he understands it and he is an experienced pro,” Wilder, whose side conceded five goals at home for the third successive game, said.

“He has got it wrong, I want us to be competitive, I want us to win tackles, we can’t have a passive game.

“It is a competitive game, it is a not a non-contact game but we have to get that right, Mason has to get that right. It is huge setback for us in the approach to the overall game.

“I am torn, I am a competitor and I understand that it was a very, very strong challenge and the game has moved on.

“Some people won’t want the game to move and on and expect physical contact, excessive force or whatever you call it.

“Winning the ball and challenging in that way is deemed not acceptable. We have got no excuses, or nowhere to hide, the referee gave it a yellow card straight away but obviously when he went to the monitor and saw it slowed down and has somebody in his ear saying it’s a red card.

“Better managers than me, quite a lot of them around at the moment I should imagine – bigger, better clubs than Sheffield United would have found it difficult to go down to 10 because of they way they play.

“The game was decided on that, I could say 100 per cent we would not have gone done 5-0.”

The Seagulls made hay at Bramall Lane for the second time in three weeks and took advantage of Holgate’s indiscipline.

They kept the pressure on Manchester United in sixth place but boss Roberto De Zerbi would have preferred to have played 11 versus 11.

“We played very well, especially in the first half, it was very difficult to find the right moment to shoot, to score,” the Italian said.

“The first half was a very good performance, I am sorry for the red card, sincerely, because I would like to play the game 11 v 11 and it is not always an advantage to play with one player more.

“Especially if the characteristic of the opponent is like Sheffield United because you can find it more difficult to score.

“The second part of the first half they defended the last 25 metres with nine players behind the ball.”

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