Championship · 2025Sat, 30 Aug 2025, 11:30 UTCFull timeRiversideFull-time recap

Middlesbrough

WWW

1–0Full-time recap

Sheffield United

LLL

This page describes the completed match context. The result is not presented as a prior forecast.

This match

Match statistics

Metric	Middlesbrough	Sheffield United
Shots	15 shots/match▲	8 shots/match
Shots on target	6 shots/match▲	0 shots/match
Expected goals	1.09 xG/match▲	0.44 xG/match
Possession	47%	53%●
Corners	5 corners/match	8 corners/match●
Fouls	5 fouls/match	13 fouls/match

Every shot

Shot map

Every recorded shot, placed where it was taken and sized by its expected-goals value. Each team attacks towards its own end of the pitch.

off target
on target
goal
penalty
size = xG

Middlesbrough: 15 shots, 6 on target, 1.46 xG. Sheffield United: 8 shots, 0 on target, 0.62 xG.

How the match built

Expected-goals timeline

Expected goals accumulated minute by minute. Circles mark the goals that were actually scored.

The step line is cumulative expected goals; circles mark goals. Final: Middlesbrough 1.46 xG · Sheffield United 0.62 xG.

30-second read

What the record shows

The clearest recorded pattern is: Each team's season corners average is above the competition baseline. A second useful context is: Sheffield United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit below their competition baselines. Limitation: At least one team has fewer than the configured season sample.

Both teams have elevated corners records

weak

Each team's season corners average is above the competition baseline.

6.25 corners/matchCornersMiddlesbrough · Sheffield United●9.5 corners/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: Both team averages are compared with the same competition baseline.

Window: season

Metric	Middlesbrough	Sheffield United	Baseline
Corners	6.25 corners/match	9.5 corners/match	5 corners/match

Caveat: A shared historical pattern is descriptive and may not repeat in one fixture.

Sheffield United show a distinct attacking-volume record

weak

Sheffield United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit below their competition baselines.

11 shots/match▲ShotsMiddlesbrough · Sheffield United12.5 shots/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: Team shot volume is paired with the opponent's recorded shot allowance.

Window: season

Metric	Middlesbrough	Sheffield United	Baseline
Shots	11 shots/match	12.5 shots/match	12.4 shots/match
Shots against	9 shots/match	13.5 shots/match	12.5 shots/match

Caveat: Shot volume describes activity; it does not establish finishing quality or a match outcome.

The teams have contrasting possession records

weak

Sheffield United have recorded the higher season possession share.

49.3%PossessionMiddlesbrough · Sheffield United●58.3%

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: The recorded possession gap is 9.0 percentage points.

Window: season

Metric	Middlesbrough	Sheffield United	Baseline
Possession	49.3%	58.3%	50.3%

Caveat: Possession share does not show where possession occurred or how chances were created.

Metric comparison

Team comparison

Season averages · sample sizes shown with each metric. Context, not a forecast.

Where the edge is

Middlesbrough favored in 0 of 13 directional metrics · Sheffield United in 0 · 13 too close

1.75 goals/matchGoals scoredseason · 4/40.25 goals/match

0.25 goals/matchGoals allowedseason · 4/41.75 goals/match

0.99 xG/matchExpected goalsseason · 4/41.11 xG/match

0.58 xG/matchExpected goals allowedseason · 4/41.23 xG/match

11 shots/matchShotsseason · 4/412.5 shots/match

9 shots/matchShots allowedseason · 4/413.5 shots/match

4.5 shots/matchShots on targetseason · 4/42.5 shots/match

1.25 shots/matchShots on target allowedseason · 4/45.25 shots/match

49.3%Possessionseason · 4/4●58.3%

6.25 corners/matchCornersseason · 4/4●9.5 corners/match

5 corners/matchCorners allowedseason · 4/44.75 corners/match

—Cardsseason · 0/0—

11.3 fouls/matchFoulsseason · 4/412 fouls/match

—Passesseason · 0/0—

—Pass accuracyseason · 0/0—

—Shots inside boxseason · 0/0—

—Blocked shotsseason · 0/0—

—Goalkeeper savesseason · 0/0—

—Offsidesseason · 0/0—

75%Clean-sheet frequencyseason · 4/40%

100%Scoring frequencyseason · 4/425%

Style profile

How the teams compare

Competition percentiles describe recorded style; they do not rank likely outcomes.

Possession control

Relative share of recorded possession within the competition.

Middlesbrough43.8

Sheffield United85.4

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Attacking volume

Recorded shot and scoring volume, expressed as competition percentiles.

Middlesbrough59.7

Sheffield United22.9

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Defensive resistance

Lower recorded scoring and shot allowance produces a higher descriptive percentile.

Middlesbrough93.7

Sheffield United24.3

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Directness proxy

Shots per possession point; a descriptive transition/directness proxy, not an outcome score.

Middlesbrough27.1

Sheffield United18.8

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Physicality

Recorded fouls and cards relative to competition peers.

Middlesbrough50

Sheffield United62.5

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 50%

Set-piece relevance

Corner volume relative to competition peers.

Middlesbrough89.6

Sheffield United97.9

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Tempo and pressure proxy

Combined event-volume percentiles for shots, corners and fouls.

Middlesbrough59.4

Sheffield United56.8

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Recent form

Season, last 10 and last 5

Window

Season

Middlesbrough4 matchesSheffield United4 matches

1.75 goals/match▲Goals scored4/40.25 goals/match

0.25 goals/match▲Goals allowed4/41.75 goals/match

0.99 xG/matchExpected goals4/4▲1.11 xG/match

11 shots/matchShots4/4▲12.5 shots/match

4.5 shots/match▲Shots on target4/42.5 shots/match

49.3%Possession4/4●58.3%

6.25 corners/matchCorners4/4●9.5 corners/match

—Cards0/0—

11.3 fouls/matchFouls4/412 fouls/match

Venue split

Home and away samples

Window

Home team at home / away team away

Middlesbrough2 matchesSheffield United2 matches

—Goals scored2/2—

—Goals allowed2/2—

—Expected goals2/2—

—Shots2/2—

—Shots on target2/2—

—Possession2/2—

—Corners2/2—

—Cards0/0—

—Fouls2/2—

Schedule context

Rest and recent workload

6.9 daysRest before fixtureprevious completed fixtures · 1/16.9 days

2 matchesMatches in previous 14 daysprevious completed fixtures · 1/12 matches

Evidence quality

How much supports this analysis

Grade C · Limited evidencelimited

Season samples4 / 4home / away teams

Recent samples4 / 4last-five windows

FreshnessLess than one dayfrom nearest prior match

At least one team has fewer than the configured season sample.
At least one team has an incomplete last-five window.

Known unknowns

Lineups, injuries, suspensions and tactical changes are not available in the retained dataset.
Some metrics are unavailable or below their observation minimum: cards.
The completed-match sample is too small for broad style conclusions.

Analysis cutoff: Sat, 30 Aug 2025, 15:30 UTC · analysis-v4