Sheffield United Premier League fixture release breakdown - key dates, horror month and Christmas period

The Blades will see their season bookended by trips to the south coast as they face Bournemouth on the opening day of the season and Southampton in the campaign finale.

But what are the key dates, worst fixture runs and Christmas period like? Here’s a look…

Key dates

As previously mentioned, the Blades are away for both the opening day and the final day of the season. How significant a trip to Southampton in May could be remains to be seen – the Saints have battled relegation in the last two seasons to just avoid the drop each time.

Whether Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side – or Chris Wilder’s – find themselves at the wrong end of the table by that stage of the season could determine how important it is.

Another key date to look out for is Boxing Day and the good news for Unitedites is that they’ll have a short trip to Bramall Lane again this season.

The Blades are set to play Watford on December 26, which comes just before a horrid run of fixtures.

Horror month

They don’t come much worse than this – Sheffield United have got the January of nightmares ahead of them this season.

A trip to Manchester City on December 28 starts a torrid run that will see clashes against Liverpool, West Ham, Arsenal and then Pep Guardiola’s City again within the space of a month.

There will of course be FA Cup fixtures around that time too so things could move, but it’s a tough run of games for United’s return to the top flight.

Best month

Either side of United’s horror month there are two months of fairly decent fixtures – in December Wilder’s side play Newcastle, Norwich, Aston Villa, Brighton and Watford, which could be key to pick up points to soften the blow of January’s nightmare run.

February is also an opportunity for the Blades to get a few points back on the board as they’ll play Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Brighton and Aston Villa.

See the full list of Sheffield United’s fixtures here.