In their second friendly in consecutive days, Sheffield United will meet Girona behind closed doors on Wednesday.
After returning from a trip to Portugal, in which they took on Estoril Praia, the Blades will meet Rotherham United and the La Liga outfit back-to-back as they ramp up their preparations for the new Premier League season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sheffield United headed into their pre-season campaign with the task of building towards their return to the Premier League in the upcoming season, having secured promotion from the Championship at the second time of asking last term.
In their first full season under the management of Paul Heckingbottom, the Blades kept themselves in the top two for almost the entirety of the campaign, eventually finishing on 91 points from their 46 matches having put up 28 victories while only suffering 11 defeats.
The South Yorkshire outfit fended off any potential competition from below with an eye-catching end to the term, as they won eight of their last 10 outings and wrapped up the top-two finish with a 2-0 triumph at home to West Bromwich Albion in late April, before signing off with a 2-1 victory away at Birmingham City in the final round of fixtures, courtesy of goals from Oli McBurnie and James McAtee.
On the back of that triumphant campaign, Heckingbottom's men returned for pre-season earlier in July and made the short trip to Chesterfield for their first friendly, eventually scoring a 2-0 win courtesy of Iliman Ndiaye and Ben Osborn at the SMH Group Stadium.
They then travelled to Portugal for a training camp and met Primeira Liga Estoril Praia on Wednesday, and having now returned back to home soil with less than three weeks to go until they kick off back in the top flight at home to Crystal Palace, the Blades will look to keep building momentum in consecutive matches against Rotherham United and Girona before finishing pre-season against Derby County and Stuttgart.
© Reuters
They meet a Girona side who enjoyed an impressive return to their own domestic top flight last time around, having previously earned promotion from the Segunda Division under the management of Michel.
In their first season back in La Liga, the Blanquivermells secured a 10th-placed finish, amassing 49 points from their 38 outings, although it certainly could have been better for Michel's side, who sat seventh in the final weeks of the term, only to go winless in their last five outings while only managing two points.
That may be somewhat of a cause for disappointment for Girona, as they missed out on European qualification as a result, but they should certainly still be pleased with a top-half La Liga finish, and they began their preparations for another top-half push with a friendly against Olot last Wednesday, eventually coming out with a 4-2 win as Minsu Kim, Iker Almena, Manu Vallejo and Pau Victor got on the scoresheet.
Michel's men then met FC Andorra at the weekend and saw the contest end in a 2-2 draw, as they went two goals down only to draw level through Yangel Herrera and Cristhian Stuani.
Now upping the intensity of their pre-season preparations further, Girona travel to Manchester to take on Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers and will be keen to build confidence before meeting Italian giants Napoli and Lazio and kicking off their domestic campaign away at Real Sociedad in mid-August.
- W
- D
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
We are yet to see how Paul Heckingbottom will prepare his squad for back-to-back contests this week, however we should see the Blades' key squad members on show for a period of time from the start on Wednesday, including summer signings Anis Slimane, Yasser Larouci and Benie Traore.
Slimani and Larouci both featured against Estoril Praia after joining from Brondby and Troyes respectively, while Traore will hope to make a positive impression having recently joined from BK Hacken, for whom he enjoyed a fine start to the ongoing Allsvenskan season, topping the league's scoring charts with 12 goals in 14 appearances.
With Oli McBurnie still recovering from a slight injury concern picked up in pre-season, Iliman Ndiaye, who looks likely to stay at Bramall Lane for the upcoming season after interest from Marseille, could join Traore in attack, while Slimane may feature alongside Sander Berge and Oliver Norwood in the engine room, in front of the established back three of Anel Ahmedhodzic, John Egan and Jack Robinson.
Girona have several enforced changes to their squad compared to last season, including the loss of key forward Valentin Castellanos, who hit 13 goals in 35 La Liga appearances in a loan spell from New York City FC and has since completed a move to Lazio.
Veteran forward Cristhian Stuani will be relied upon to fill the hole left by the Argentinian and could again lead the line on Wednesday, while Michel's squad has also been hit in the middle by the losses of Oriol Romeu and Ramon Terrats to Barcelona and Villarreal respectively.
They have not been quiet in the transfer market themselves, though, adding quality and experience with the capture of Daley Blind from Bayern Munich, while Yangel Herrera and Ivan Martin have joined from Manchester City and Villarreal respectively to bolster the midfield, as has Barcelona loanee Pablo Torre who will be keen to impress.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Slimane, Larouci; Traore, Ndiaye
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Gutierrez, Lopez, Blind, Couto; Herrera, Torre, Martin; Savio, Stuani, Fernandez
We say: Sheffield United 2-1 Girona
Girona should certainly pose a threat to Sheffield United in what promises to be an intriguing encounter, but with the Spanish visitors in the midst of a rebuild after several notable losses, we see Heckingbottom's men having slightly too much in Manchester.
No Data Analysis info
Sam Varley
