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Guardiola recovering from back surgery
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Sheffield United have no points and one goal
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Back City to rack up shots and corners on Bet Builder
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Claim your free Acca or Bet Builder here
Sheffield United v Manchester City
Sunday 27 August, 14:00
Live on Sky Sports
Reality biting for blunt Blades
It's hard enough to compete at Premier League level as a newly promoted club without losing your most effective attacking player, but that's exactly what happened to Sheffield United. Senegal international forward Iliman Ndiaye went to Marseille, having lit up the Championship last term.
To make matters worse, on-loan stars Tommy Doyle and James McAtee returned to Manchester City, while Norwegian midfielder Sander Berge went to Burnley.
The Yorkshire outfit have signed title-winning Häcken striker Benie Traore, Coventry midfielder Gus Hamer and Brazilian holding player Vini Souza, but it feels like a squad that is incomplete. That feeling has been strengthened by defeats to Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, narrow losses that saw the Blades manage a total of just four shots on target across the two matches.
United boss Paul Heckingbottom says his team aren't scared of the Premier League, but maybe they should be. Before the end of October, they have to face Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal.
They should certainly be scared of Manchester City, as our friends at Opta tell us they have taken just two points from their last eight league meetings with the champions, and they have never beaten them in the Premier League.
Sheffield United hope to welcome striker Oli McBurnie back from injury, but Max Lowe, Anis Slimane and Daniel Jebbison are all carrying knocks. Players like John Fleck and Rhian Brewster have long-standing issues, while Jayden Bogle missed the whole of pre-season.
Guardiola record underlines his impact
Although Pep Guardiola will actually miss the trip to Bramall Lane because of a back injury (Juanma Lillo will deputise), he is still on the cusp of an extraordinary record.
If City take maximum points, Guardiola will be the fastest manager in English top-flight history to reach 200 wins, achieving that feat in just 269 games. To put that into context, Jose Mourinho did it in 326 games, and Arsene Wenger is third on the list with 332.
Now of course you can argue that Guardiola has had incredible resources at his disposal, and by his own admission, his football only works with elite players.
City have assembled a squad worthy of doing the treble last season, and the Catalan coach was also successful at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The 52-year-old has won 11 league titles and three Champions Leagues, four UEFA Super Cups, two Copas Del Rey, two DFB Pokals, two FA Cups and four League Cups. By any measure, this is an extraordinary body of work.
This season, City have blown away Burnley 3-0 in their Premier League opener, and have edged out a very good Newcastle United side 1-0. In the UEFA Super Cup they were far from their best against Sevilla, but they managed to find a way to grind out a draw and win on penalties.
Bernardo Silva could return after illness, but Kevin de Bruyne is a long-term casualty, and John Stones is still on the sidelines. Josko Gvardiol is still settling into the City style, and should get another start.
City dominance the key to Bet Builder
Manchester City swept aside Sheffield United 3-0 in last season's FA Cup semi-finals, and I don't see why this meeting will be much different. If anything, the Blades are a bit weaker now than they were then.
I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back City -1 on the Handicap, Over 7.5 Corners and City to have six or more shots on target at 2.526/4. City averaged 5.8 shots on target across last season's 38 Premier League fixtures, and City racked up 11 corners when they last faced the Blades.
Hot Julian to strike again?
For all the talk of Erling Haaland's record-breaking brilliance, Julian Alvarez has been a really effective player since he swapped River Plate for Manchester City. The Argentinean World Cup winner scored nine PL goals last term, and he got the winner last week against Newcastle.
If Alvarez starts, I think he's value in the Sportsbook's Anytime Goalscorer market at evens.
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