Sports
Are Sheffield United the worst Premier League team ever? This is what the numbers say
Ninety-four teams have been relegated from the English top flight from the 1992-93 season onwards, but only a special handful make it into the dismal pantheon that is The Worst Premier League Teams Of All Time.
It’s a collection that will soon include 2023-24 Sheffield United. Their season reached a new low on Monday night, with a 6-0 defeat by Arsenal that saw them become the first club in English league history to lose three consecutive home games by a margin of five or more goals. And let’s not forget their campaign also includes an 8-0 home defeat by Newcastle. Tell me a sad story in four words or less: The Bramall Lane scoreboard.
But Sheffield United are not alone in experiencing league-table ghastliness. Name and season combinations like Swindon Town in 1993-94, Derby County in 2007-08, Queens Park Rangers in 2012-13, Huddersfield Town in 2018-19 and just the word ‘Sunderland’ dredge up memories of terrible teams, woeful managers, awful defeats and broken fanbases. Reaching the Premier League can be the greatest feeling of all. Departing it can be humiliating.
Working out who have actually been the worst team is a difficult task. Football didn’t start in 1992, but that year is a long time ago now and the sport is constantly evolving. Is it fair to compare a workmanlike Swindon team still getting used to the backpass law with a Sheffield United side who are clearly not very good, but who have still been able to spend many millions of pounds on the likes of Cameron Archer and Gustavo Hamer?
Maybe not, but let’s try anyway.
Points won
Points are the ultimate currency in a relegation battle, so if you have the record low total, like Derby in 2007-08, then a lot of people are going to be looking in your direction when the worst-team discourse kicks off. Eleven is how many players you should end a match with, not how many points you should end a season with.
Derby finished 2007-08 having not won any of their final 32 games, with manager Paul Jewell — who replaced Billy Davies, architect of Derby’s only win that season — collecting just five points in 24 matches. At the point of the season Sheffield United are at right now, Derby had nine points. Will Chris Wilder’s team add more than two in their 11 fixtures between now and the end of the campaign? You have to suspect they will.
Derby manager Paul Jewell in March 2008 (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Are there any mitigating factors for Derby, though? Well, a glance at the other end of the table reminds you that 2007-08 was in the middle of one of the strongest periods of the Premier League era. We are deep into the time of the ‘Big Four’ here, with Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all making the semi-finals of the Champions League, and the latter two contesting the final. Derby clearly weren’t ready to compete in the top flight that season, but they did pick one of the most difficult times to make an entrance. Still, 11 points.
Sunderland should not avoid censure here, recording not one but two sub-20-point campaigns. Nineteen in a dire 2002-03 seemed bad enough, only for them to return three seasons later and pick up four fewer. They ended a three-manager 2002-03 season with a run of 15 consecutive defeats and then lost their first five in 2005-06 to extend it to 20 top-flight defeats in a row, a record that may never be beaten. And in a turn of events scientists have deemed ‘unlikely’, Sunderland led the Premier League for home defeats between 2002-03 and 2005-06, despite not being in the division for half of those four seasons.
Huddersfield’s turgid relegation in 2018-19 saw them win just 16 points, but was that really a surprise for a team who managed to climb from the third tier to the Premier League without ever recording a positive goal difference in their five seasons in the Championship, winning promotion to the top flight via two penalty shootouts and with one goal — an own-goal — scored in the three play-off ties?
Man City have now won more PL games in the last 58 days than Huddersfield did in two seasons
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) March 2, 2021
Finally, Aston Villa’s total of 17 points in 2015-16 often gets overlooked due to Leicester City’s antics at the other end of the table, but it was a truly dismal effort.
This was a Premier League ever-present club who had been challenging for Champions League qualification a few years before, but who in this campaign went through three managers (the classic Tim Sherwood to Remi Garde to Eric Black succession plan), lost 11 games in the spring and even went two games without winning a corner in February.
Villa led in matches for only 243 minutes during 2015-16 — the length of Star Wars movies A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back combined (which is possibly a more entertaining use of your time) – but unlike Sunderland and Sheffield United, they have since returned to the top flight in style, so that counts in their favour at least.
Goals conceded
You have to admire Swindon’s commitment to round numbers. With one game of 1993-94 remaining, the Wiltshire side had conceded 95 times. No top-flight side had let in 100 goals since Ipswich Town 30 years earlier, so everyone knew what they had to do. Leeds United turned up at the County Ground and promptly won 5-0, Swindon had their century and everyone moved on with their lives.
Swindon concede a league goal in 1993-94. Ninety-nine alternatives to this photo are available (Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)
And after the Premier League reduced its schedule by four games to 38 from 1995-96, many concluded that we’d never see a three-figure goals-against column again. They teach defending now, you know.
But that was until this Sheffield United side turned up. (Aptly, one of Swindon’s reserve goalkeepers in 1993-94 was called Jon Sheffield — he conceded seven goals in the two games he played.)
0-8 – This was Sheffield United’s largest ever defeat in their league history in their 4,988th game. It is the first time that the Blades have conceded eight goals in a league game since their 3-10 defeat to Middlesbrough in November 1933. Drubbing. pic.twitter.com/OU0kqJ3Fcv
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 24, 2023
If their 8-0 home defeat against Newcastle in September was a warning sign, then Sheffield United’s current run of defeats at Bramall Lane (5-0 to both Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion and 6-0 to Arsenal) is the vision of a team spiralling their way towards the record books.
Conceding 2.67 goals per 90 minutes is comfortably the highest rate ever seen in the Premier League era, making Swindon 1993-94 look like a lesson in catenaccio in comparison.
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It also means that — as it stands – Sheffield United are on course to concede 101 goals this season. From deepest Wiltshire to South Yorkshire, it’s news that will stun the nation if it happens.
Burnley 2023-24’s appearance in the above chart is telling, too.
The Premier League’s current bottom three are conceding at a record rate and the overall figure of 3.25 goals per game scored this season is the highest seen in the English top flight since the early 1960s. Perhaps that makes Sheffield United unlucky to turn up in the Premier League at this point with this team, but then it might make Burnley — who, let’s not forget, are level on points with this Sheffield United side — extremely fortunate. Vincent Kompany and, um, company are also embroiled in a mess of a campaign, but they might get away relatively lightly by sneaking along behind the team with substantially more egg on their shorts.
Plug Swindon’s or Derby’s goals conceded numbers into a season like this one and you might expect them to concede another 15-20 goals, but football doesn’t work like that and, more importantly, neither does remembering football’s worst teams. If Sheffield United reach three figures for goals-against this season, that is what will get shouted across pub tables and concourses for decades to come. And rightly so.
Erling Haaland has now scored as many PL goals as Derby in 2007-08 but in 24 fewer games
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 28, 2022
And the worst team are…
Raw numbers will only get you so far. There have been plenty of strugglers in the past 32 years who might not have the outright numbers of a Derby or a Sunderland or a Swindon, but who should still be recognised for services to ineptitude.
Norwich City, for example, who from 2018-19 to 2021-22 finished top of the Championship, bottom of the Premier League, top of the Championship again and bottom of the Premier League once more. Among relegation experts, their 2019-20 outfit are viewed as the inferior side, clocking up 27 defeats before being relegated, including losing all nine games in the hot, post-lockdown summer of Project Restart. That said, the 2021-22 Norwich team had only scored eight goals by Christmas, so wasn’t a classic XI by any means.
Then there’s Queens Park Rangers in 2012-13, managed initially by Mark Hughes before being guided through the January transfer window and beyond by Harry Redknapp. It took them 17 games to finally win before ending the season with two points from the final nine games and a Christopher Samba they didn’t need.
That winless QPR run to start the season is no longer a Premier League record, if you were wondering. It was ‘beaten’ by our old friends Sheffield United in 2020-21, who had two points from 17 games before finally picking up their first three points in the January(!) against Newcastle. Not that it sparked a revival — they went down with six games still to play, another (joint) Premier League record.
Derby 07-08 Sheff Utd 20-21
🤝
beat newcastle at home— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) January 12, 2021
And here’s the crux of the worst-team narrative: does what Sunderland did in the mid-2000s and Sheffield United are in the process of doing — that is, piece together two utterly terrible Premier League campaigns in the space of three years — trump Derby’s one 11-point season? Yes, it’s increasingly apparent that no side will ever go as low as 11 points again, but Derby at least have had the sense to never return.
Sheffield United’s dejected players against Arsenal on Monday (SportImage/Getty Images )
There’s something deeply unsatisfying about a team performing abjectly, then coming back soon after and doing exactly the same thing again. It feels like a waste of a season. It feels like you’ve been cheated out of variety.
So here’s the deal.
If Sheffield United continue to concede at their current rate and they break Swindon’s goals-against record, then add that to the 29 defeats of 2020-21 and whatever points total they manage in the next couple of months and announce it: the Premier League’s new worst-ever team.
Derby County of 2007-08, your redemption is finally here. Maybe.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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The wait is officially over. The FIFA World Cup has arrived.
For the first time ever, three nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada are co-hosting the tournament. It is also the largest FIFA World Cup in history, expanding to a 48-team field. Squads from around the world have arrived in North America with one ultimate goal: capturing the iconic World Cup trophy.
Here’s the latest look at some of the most notable news surrounding the World Cup.
June 12:
Official Injury Update On Neymar
Brazilian star Neymar Jr. will officially miss Brazil’s opening match against Morocco on Saturday. Neymar was named to Brazil’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad despite a calf injury, and now won’t be available early on. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said that “Neymar is working very hard to recover as quickly as possible.
“The expectation is that he will recover and rejoin the group next week.”
Google Doodle Has World Cup Fever
In case fans didn’t already have World Cup fever, they can open their web browser.
Google is officially ready for USA’s opener against Paraguay, as the home page features a custom, USA-themed Google Doodle.
The Doodle features red text with a blue outline, as well as a soccer ball along with an interchanging USA crest replacing the “O’s” in Google.
James Cordon Stretches With Christian Pulisic
James Corden joined Christian Pulisic and the United States men’s national team for a training session ahead of their World Cup opener against Paraguay.
After meeting with head coach Mauricio Pochettino and going through a film session with the players, Corden and Co. hit the pitch for practice, where he helped serve as a water boy.
Corden tried to help Pulisic stretch out his legs after practice before he was stopped by a member of the coaching staff. As Corden walked off, Pulisic sprayed him with a water bottle.
DR Congo Arrives to the World Cup in Style
The DR Congo men’s national team isn’t set to play until Wednesday, June 17, against Portugal in Group K, but they’ve already made a statement upon arrival in Houston, Texas.
The squad arrived in style, stepping off the plane in striking black, jaguar-inspired outfits that quickly turned heads. The bold look fits their nickname, Les Léopards, and sets the tone for their World Cup presence before they even face Portugal.
DR Congo may be heavy underdogs, but they’re already winning where it counts off the pitch, taking the fashion battle before kickoff.
Canada’s Jesse Marsch Takes Dig At USA
The Canadian men’s national team is set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday afternoon. Ahead of the match, head coach Jesse Marsch took a subtle jab at the United States men’s national team during his remarks on Thursday.
“In the U.S., we had to beg players to sing the national anthem,” Marsch said.
The United States conducted a months-long search for a new head coach in 2023, with Marsch emerging as the frontrunner and making it clear he wanted the job. Instead, they chose to rehire Gregg Berhalter, a decision that may have left Marsch with some lingering resentment.
Marsch’s subtle jab could take on added stakes if the United States and Canada meet during the FIFA World Cup. The two nations could potentially face off as early as the Round of 32 or the Round of 16.
June 11:
The pressure of competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is high, but that hasn’t stopped players from enjoying some downtime with their teammates. Norway star Erling Haaland was spotted at the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Haaland appeared to be enjoying himself as the Hurricanes secured a Game 5 victory, taking a 3-2 series lead over the Golden Knights. The Manchester City striker drew plenty of attention from fans in attendance as he took in the action from the stands.
The Norway star was seen celebrating in the stands before turning his attention back to international duty, with Norway set to face Iraq in Group 1 play on Tuesday, June 16.
Australia Coach Popovic Signs Extension
Australia coach Tony Popovic has signed a contract extension through early 2027 on the eve of his team’s World Cup opening match against Turkey on Saturday.
Football Australia said Friday that the 52-year-old Popovic’s deal now extends through the Asian Cup, which will take place in January and early February in Saudi Arabia.
The former Australia international was hired in September 2024 and led the Socceroos to qualification for the 48-team tournament.
“I’m proud to lead my country into a World Cup, but most importantly, I want to ensure that our team is fully prepared and focused on our group matches against Turkey, the United States, and Paraguay,” he said of Australia’s opponents in Group D.
Canada Captain Sidelined For Opening Match
Canada’s captain and star defender Alphonso Davies will miss Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Davies’ status has been questionable due to an ACL tear and other injuries during the club season, which limited Davies to appearing in two of Canada’s last 21 games.
Davies is one of the co-host’s more valuable players in terms of talent and experience, including 58 appearances in nine years with the national team. However, Davies’ injury does not rule him out of the entire tournament. His injury update and restraint from the opening match serves as a caution to heal his injury as the group stage unfolds.
After playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS, Davies transferred to Bayern Munich, where he’s played since 2019. Canada is set to play Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, followed by Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Captain Wataru Endo Withdraws From World Cup
Just ahead of Japan’s opening match against the Netherlands on June 14, captain and midfielder Wataru Endo has withdrawn his name from Japan’s World Cup squad and paired it with his national team retirement, per his statement on X. Endo has been dealing with an ongoing ankle/foot injury since February.
Endo has played for the Japan national team for over a decade, where he made 73 appearances and scored four goals. As a veteran anchor in the midfield, Endo has also served as Japan’s captain since their previous World Cup in 2022, where they reached the Round of 16.
As for Endo’s professional career, he first played for Shanon Bellmare from 2010-15, followed by the Urawa Red Diamonds from 2016-19, VfB Stuttgart from 2019-23 and has played for Liverpool FC since 2023. With Liverpool, Endo played a prominent role in the team’s Carabao Cup victory in 2024.
With Endo out, Japan has officially called Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Shuto Machino to join the 26-man roster. Machino is entering his second World Cup and his fifth year with the Japan national team.
Marco Senesi Called Up To 26-Man Roster
Following the injury of defender Leonardo Balerdi, Argentina has officially called up defender Marcos Senesi to the 26-man roster. Argentina is set to open their World Cup campaign on June 16 against Algeria.
Senesi has been training prior in case of a last-minute call-up, and was named to the roster after Balerdi’s muscle injury was ruled out. Senesi has played professionally since 2016, playing for clubs like San Lorenzo, Feyenoord, AFC Bournemouth and is currently with Tottenham Hotspur.
Joining Senesi in the back are defenders Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi and Cristian Romero.
In what’s likely to be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, Argentina will look to repeat their historic 2022 World Cup win this tournament.
Tyler Adams, USA Celebrate Shocking Knicks’ W
Tyler Adams, United States’ midfielder, is a fan of the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks. The Knicks are in the NBA Finals, on the eve of the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so members of the United States’ squad gathered together to watch what turned out to be the largest NBA Finals comeback in history, with the Knicks coming out on top.
When New York won, the room erupted, with Adams especially going wild. And we know this because the reaction was caught on camera in the moment.
That couch is destroyed, but at least no one watching the game ended up as damaged as it did after Adams went climbing and kicking all over it! If the United States ends up having a major comeback or win in the World Cup, maybe keep the players away from any obstacles like that, though. Just to be safe.
Morocco Loses 2 Players To Injury Before World Cup
Morocco replaced two injured players in its World Cup squad ahead of an opening game against Brazil, including star winger Abde Ezzalzouli.
FIFA confirmed late Wednesday that former Barcelona player Ezzalzouli and Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd were withdrawn from the Morocco squad for the tournament.
Ezzalzouli helped Real Betis qualify for next season’s Champions League and was a potential breakout star at the World Cup. Aguerd was a cornerstone of Morocco’s historic semifinals team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
They were replaced by Amine Sbai of French club Angers and Marwane Saadane, who plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Fateh.
Morocco opens against Brazil on Saturday at MetLife Stadium near New York, then plays Scotland on June 19 near Boston and finishes Group C against Haiti on June 24 in Atlanta.
Ezzalzouli injured his right knee in a warmup game against Norway last weekend, though initial tests suggested he could be retained in coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad to play in the knockout rounds.
Surprise World Cup Comeback For Austrian Midfielder
The last time Dejan Ljubicic played for Austria was nearly three years ago. Now a teammate’s injury has given him a surprise comeback at the World Cup.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick called up Ljubicic late Wednesday to replace key midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who injured his right thigh while warming up for a pre-World Cup friendly against Tunisia last week and needed surgery.
Ljubicic is set to join Austria at the team camp in Santa Barbara on Thursday, ahead of the team’s first game on Tuesday against Jordan. Austria also plays Argentina and Algeria in Group J.
He’s more of a defensive midfield option than Baumgartner, who scored 17 goals in all competitions for Leipzig in Germany last season and has remained in camp to support the team.
Ljubicic also plays in Germany on the Schalke team which secured promotion from the second division last month.
Ljubicic has nine games for Austria but none at a major tournament. His last appearance was in a friendly against Moldova in September 2023, and he wasn’t in the squad for any World Cup qualifiers.
CHICAGO — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup Friday against the White Sox after exiting the game before with discomfort in the back of his left knee.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani had imaging done on the knee and showed “the normal wear and tear.”
“He feels fine-ish,” said Roberts, who hopes Ohtani will be back in the lineup this weekend. Ohtani remains in line to make his next pitching start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium.
Especially at this point in the season, the Dodgers have incentive to play it safe with Ohtani’s recovery. Pushing him to return early and exacerbating the injury would be a larger blow to a team seeking its third straight World Series championship.
With Ohtani out, left fielder Alex Call was in the leadoff spot, and Santiago Espinal served as the designated hitter.
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With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage.
66.6% of nations will advance out of the group stage this summer, which is a massive upgrade from 50% in past World Cups. Because of this, sportsbooks have adjusted with less favorable odds.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany entered with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters.
All five nations are heavily favored at -10000 to advance to the knockout round.
The Spaniards are the defending European Champions while the Argentinians are looking to win back-to-back titles. Germany has not made it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, but has always been a perennial contender— having won four titles in its history. And then of course there’s Brazil, which has more titles than any country with five.
Now, after the conclusion of the first day of the World Cup, Mexico has joined the group at the top. El Tri has surged to -10000 to advance to the knockout stage after initially being just -1400. Mexico’s huge leap up the oddsboard is a direct result of its dominating 2-0 win over South Africa.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the odds for each team to advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as of June 12.
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Odds to Advance to Knockout Stage
Spain: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Argentina: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Brazil: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
England: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Mexico: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Germany: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Portugal: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
France: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
Belgium:-3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
South Korea: -2500 (bet $10 to win $10.40 total)
Switzerland: -1800 (bet $10 to win $10.56 total)
Netherlands: -1400 (bet $10 to win $10.71 total)
Morocco: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Colombia: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Uruguay: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Canada: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Ecuador: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
Norway: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
United States: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
The U.S. men’s national team is currently -750 to advance from Group D (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
Croatia: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Austria: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Türkiye: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Ivory Coast: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Japan: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Egypt: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Algeria: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Scotland: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Senegal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Sweden: -230 (bet $10 to win $1435 total)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -220 (bet $10 to win $14.55 total)
Paraguay: -205 (bet $10 to win $14.88 total)
Iran: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)
Czechia: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Ghana: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total)
Australia: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)
DR Congo: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Raúl Jiménez helped propel Mexico to a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Photo by Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images).
Saudi Arabia: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
Tunisia: +140 (bet $10 to win $24 total)
New Zealand: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
Uzbekistan: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Cape Verde: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Panama: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Qatar: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
South Africa: +320 (bet $10 to win $42 total)
Jordan +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Iraq: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Haiti: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Curaçao: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
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