Good morning and welcome to our live text coverage of Sheffield United vs Manchester City at Bramall Lane! Today's game will be a fascinating encounter, with City finding themselves in the strange position of 13th, after picking up only eight points from their opening five games, making it their lowest point tally at this stage of a season since 2014-15. Meanwhile Sheffield United's high flying first season is a distance memory as they sit 19th with only a point to show. We will be bringing you all the build-up, highlights and talking points from the match today, so stay tuned ahead of kick-off at 12.30.
Premier League / Matchday 7
Bramall Lane / 31.10.2020
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/match/football-header-bg-mobile.jpg)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/sport/football/club/logo/300/100046.png){kind=logo}
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/sport/football/club/logo/300/4222.png){kind=logo}
- K. Walker(28')
Live
Live Updates
:focal(140x151:142x149)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/04/28/2811917-58003384-310-310.png)
Updated 31/10/2020 at 14:25 GMT
12:26
Kick off is less than five minutes away as the players make their way to the pitch from different sections of the stadium
12:19
Also another person who is one away from the 100 club is Kyle Walker, who began his career at Sheffield United, he's one short of 100 Premier League appearances for City.
12:14
It's no surprise that the impressive Ethan Ampadu, who put in a solid performance against Liverpool has kept his place in the starting 11
12:12
Can Wilder finally reach 100 wins? He has won an impressive 99 of his 202 games in charge of the club in all competitions, but he's been stuck on 99 wins for the last 10 matches (D2 L8), since beating Chelsea 3-0 in July.
12:09
Haunting stat for Blades fans.... No side has won more English top-flight matches on Halloween (October 31st) than Manchester City (W10 D0 L3) - level with Arsenal.
12:05
But there was music to City fans ears on Friday with Guardiola reiterating his desire to stay beyond his current contract which runs out at the end of the current campaign “I am delighted to be in Manchester and hopefully I can do a good job this season to stay longer.”
12:02
City's attacking headache continues as they are without a recognised striker. Record goal scorer Sergio Aguero could be sidelined for up to month with a hamstring injury he picked up in last week's draw at West Ham. The task to put the ball into the back of the falls to Torres, Mahrez , Sterling.
11:54
But Guardiola knows the challenge his side faces today. He is expecting one of the toughest away tests of the season against Sheffield United and heaped praise on work the Chris Wilder is doing at the South Yorkshire side, "I think Sheffield United is one of the strongest teams in the PL”, he went on to say “I am a big fan of Chris Wilder; of the way they play,” he added "He is an incredible innovator; they have incredible spirit with how they defend."
11:48
It's certainly going to be tough game for the Blades today as they have never beaten Manchester City in the Premier League in eight attempts, the most they've faced any side in the division without winning (D3, L5). Their only goal in those fixtures was scored by Brian Deane in April 1993.
11:41
And here's how Pep Guardiola has set his side out for today's game.
Nathan Ake makes the bench and Kevin De Bruyne starts after his starring role in their midweek Champions League win over Marseille
11:37
Sheffield United Team News!!!
Full-back Max Lowe starts after passing concussion protocols, while contract rebel John Lundstram drops to the bench.
Rhian Brewster and Oli McBurnie are paired up top.