Chelsea surely cannot wait to flip the calendars and bid a hearty farewell to 2023. A year that has seen the club spend over three quarters of a billion dollars is also one in which they have plumbed depths that might once have seemed unimaginable. Of those teams who have spent the entire year in the top flight, no one has fewer points than the Blues.
Sheffield United are one of the few sides who average fewer points per game this year than Mauricio Pochettino's side, but Chris Wilder will be intent on changing that. The man who brought the Blades to the top flight in 2019 has already doubled the win tally at Bramall Lane with a 1-0 triumph over Brentford that followed an impressive display against Liverpool. Suddenly the great escape looks possible for United. This threatens to be a trying afternoon for Chelsea. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know.
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Viewing information
- Date: Saturday, December 16 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Stamford Bridge -- London
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Chelsea -450; Draw +500; Sheffield United +1100
Storylines
Chelsea: Throughout all of the grim recent moments at Stamford Bridge, there has been the promise of one player shining on the horizon. Now he is within reach of Chelsea. Christopher Nkunku is, Pochettino confirmed on Friday, set to be in his first competitive squad with the Blues since his knee injury in Chicago back in August. The £52 million former RB Leipzig forward could be the man to transform Chelsea's stuttering attack, given time, but for now he is expected to feature among the substitutes.
"It's a big motivation for us, for his team-mates, and the fans to see a player that should be important for us being in the squad for the first time," said Pochettino. "It's very good news for us and it's time to be calm and quiet because we don't want to put the pressure on him."
Sheffield United: There is no superstar talent waiting in reserve for Wilder, but he himself might be the man who transforms United's hopes like Nkunku is supposed to with Chelsea. Those close to the club are already noting that Bramall Lane has some of the old vibrancy back with the presence of a manager who is not only tactically astute but has an infectious energy when he is at the helm of his boyhood club. He doesn't just delight in three points, but in the boon it brings to Sheffield.
"It's not just internally, but in the city," he said of his side's win over Brentford. "Being a local boy, you feel it around the town and you see people being lifted. It's up to us to continue that trajectory." Meanwhile Wilder has come out of a meeting with his superiors feeling positive about United's ability to strengthen in January, something their results over the last 16 games would suggest they sorely need to. Between now and then, however, they will have to hope that what they have can be enough to ruffle a few feathers.
Prediction
This might not be as easy as the scoreline that follows would suggest but Chelsea should have enough quality to get the victory they sorely need. PICK: Chelsea 2, Sheffield United 0
