Matt WilliamsAfter suffering defeat in their first game of the season, the Swans’ second test sees Sheffield United travel to the newly renamed ‘Swansea.com Stadium’. The visitors also lost their opening game, in what was their first game back in the second tier following last season’s relegation. They finished 20th in the Premier League, despite a slight resurgence towards the end of the season.
The Blades lost 1-0 at home to Birmingham last weekend, despite dominating possession with 76% of the ball, and making more than three times as many passes.
Their transfer window so far
Much like Swansea’s first opponents, Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield United are also yet to make a signing so far this summer.
While most of their exits have been youth prospects, they have also lost several first-team players. John Lundstram, who made 28 league appearances for the club last year, joined Rangers on a free transfer. He was a key member of the Sheffield United side that exceeded expectations in 2019-20, scoring five goals as the club finished 9th in their first season back in the Premier League in over a decade.
Veteran defender Phil Jagielka also left the club on a free. The 38-year-old former England international played 10 league games in 2020-21 but departed the club for a second time when his contract expired in June.
Sheffield United also said goodbye to Kean Bryan, although they have expressed an interest in bringing him back. The 24-year-old defender has been linked with Swansea City this summer, along with Fulham and West Brom.
Simon Moore left to join Coventry City, although he had only made two league appearances in his final three seasons at Bramall Lane. The 31-year-old goalkeeper was a regular starter in 2016-17 as then-League One Sheffield United won promotion back to the Championship.
Also leaving the club were 20-year-old centre-back Sam Graham and 30-year-old midfielder Jack Rodwell. Graham joined Rochdale after failing to make a single appearance for the club, while Rodwell played just once in his two years in Sheffield.
Familiar faces
Unlike Blackburn, the Sheffield United squad has several familiar faces which will no doubt provide some concern for Swansea City fans, given the club’s track record of conceding to ex-Swans.
The first is Oli McBurnie, who joined Sheffield United from Swansea for an initial fee of £17.5 million, making him their record signing. The 25-year-old Scottish international was a key figure in Swansea’s first season back in the Championship, scoring 22 goals in 42 games. However, he has struggled to find consistent form since joining the Blades, scoring six in 36 in his first season, before registering just a single goal in his last campaign.
After impressing while on loan at Swansea in 2019-20, Rhian Brewster joined Sheffield United from Liverpool for a fee of £23.5 million. He failed to score a single goal in his first season with the club, but finally opened his account this week, scoring the only goal in their 1-0 EFL Cup win over League Two’s Carlisle United. Brewster scored 10 goals in 20 games for the Swans but is yet to score a league goal for his current club in 28 outings.
The Sheffield United squad also contains one Wales international. Wing-back Rhys Norrington-Davies spent last season on loan at two Championship clubs, first making 18 appearances for Luton Town before joining Stoke City in January, where he scored one goal in 20 games. The 22-year-old was part of Swansea City’s youth academy but left to join Sheffield United in 2017. He made his very first appearance for the club earlier this week in their win over Carlisle. He has played five games for Wales, and was part of Robert Page’s squad at Euro 2020, although he failed to make an appearance at the tournament.
Their manager
After Chris Wilder left the club in March, Sheffield United finished the 2020-21 season with Under-23s manager Paul Heckingbottom as caretaker manager. However, the club opted to appoint Slaviša Jokanović as permanent manager during preseason. This made the 52-year-old Serbian their first ever manager from overseas.
Before starting his managerial career in 2007, Jokanović enjoyed a playing career that spanned almost 20 years. Playing predominantly as a defensive midfielder, Jokanović started off at hometown club Novi Sad, but left to join fellow Serbian outfit Vojvodina in 1988. He spent a further two years with the club, winning the Yugoslav First League before joining Partizan in 1990. There, he scored 21 in 67 games as Partizan also won the top-flight title, as well as the Yugoslav Cup in 1991-92.
In 1993, Jokanović moved to Spain, joining Real Oviedo. He spent two years with the club before joining Tenerife in 1995, where he made 123 appearances and scored 17 goals. In 1999-2000, he was part of the Deportivo La Coruña side that won the La Liga title, although he would only remain at the club for one season.
He got his first taste of the Premier League in 2000, when he joined Chelsea from Deportivo for a fee of £1.7 million. There, he made 39 appearances for the Blues, before a brief return to Spain in 2003. He played six times for Ciudad Murcia but retired just three months into his spell with the club.
As a player, he also played 64 times for Yugoslavia, scoring 10 goals. He was part of their squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and at Euro 2000.
Jovanović’s first managerial role came in 2007, when he returned to Partizan. The club won the league and cup double in his first and second season as manager. However, he opted to leave the post in September 2009, and would remain out of management for over two years.
He returned to the dugout in February 2012, taking over at Muangthong United in Thailand. He signed a one-year deal with the club, guiding them to an unbeaten league title in his only season with the club. Soon after, he became the manager of PFC Levski Sofia in Bulgaria. This spell was short-lived, as he was sacked three months later after a poor run of form.
Towards the end of the 2013-14 season, Jokanović replaced Quique Hernandez at Hercules CF, but won just one of his five games in charge as the Spanish side plunged to the third tier. Five months later, he returned to England, taking over at Watford. He was the Hornets’ fourth manager in five weeks, but successfully led Watford back to the Premier League in his first season. They finished second, narrowly missing out on the Championship title on the final day. Despite his heroics, Jokanović left the club just over than a month later, after failing to agree to a new deal with the club. He was replaced by Quique Sanchez Flores and made a quick return to management less than a fortnight later.
He took over at Maccabi Tel Aviv, although he decided to step down after six months to take the Fulham job, making a quick return to the Championship. After steering Fulham to safety in his first season, Jokanović secured a top-six finish in his first full season with the club. They finished sixth, but were beaten by Reading in the play-off semi-finals. A year later, Jokanović led Fulham back to the Premier League, beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the play-off final. However, after a poor run of form saw Fulham 20th in the Premier League, he was sacked in November 2018 and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.
His most recent managerial role was at Qatari side Al-Gharafa. He spent two seasons at the club, before leaving to join Sheffield United on 27th May 2021.
Previous meetings with Sheffield United
This will be the two sides’ first meeting since the 2018-19 season, the season Sheffield United were promoted back to the Premier League. Back then, the Swans were managed by Graham Potter, in what was their first season back in the Championship after a seven-year stint in the top flight.
4th August 2018
After relegation, Swansea opened their 2018-19 season with a visit to Bramall Lane. After selling several key players, Potter handed debuts to summer signings Bersant Celina, Joel Asoro and Barrie McKay.
After a goalless first half, Sheffield United opened the scoring in the 62nd minute. George Baldock drilled home an Enda Stevens cross into the bottom corner from 12 yards out. Nine minutes later, Swansea drew level through Oli McBurnie; the striker was quickest to react after Barrie McKay’s effort was tipped out by Dean Henderson, scoring from three yards out.
Then, with five minutes to go, substitute Yann Dhanda scored within seconds of coming on, sweeping home the winner with his touch for the club.
19th January 2019
Five months later, Swansea hosted Sheffield United at the Liberty Stadium. The visitors needed to win to move back into the automatic promotion places, but once again the Swans got the better of them.
After another goalless first half, McBurnie scored his second against the club, sliding home a Nathan Dyer cross to give Swansea all three points. This saw the Swans move up to ninth in the table.
What to expect
This will be an interesting game, with both sides playing similar styles of football. While Sheffield United were unable to score last weekend, they bossed possession and also had more chances than Birmingham.
Swansea’s track record of conceding to ex-players will be a concern, although neither Brewster nor McBurnie started in the Blades’ 1-0 defeat to Birmingham. Jokanović preferred Lys Mousset and Ollie Burke, but after Brewster opened his account for the club this week, he may be handed a rare start.
Meanwhile, Swansea will be boosted by the signing of Flynn Downes from Ipswich Town, while summer signing Joel Piroe scored on his debut in their 3-0 EFL Cup win at Reading. Joel Latibeaudiere also scored his first for the club in that win, performing well at wing-back. Jamie Paterson will be looking to add to his goal tally, after scoring for the Swans on his debut last weekend.
Expect a tight game, with both sides looking to play football. Swansea should be targeting a win here against a Sheffield United side that is yet to add to its ranks.
After this game, the Swans will host Stoke City on Tuesday 17th August. The Potters won their opening league game, beating Reading 3-2 at home, before a 2-1 win over Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup.
