Sheffield United ran into a roadblock in the race for promotion back to the Premier League on Tuesday night when they lost 1-0 to Millwall at Bramall Lane.
The Blades were looking to bounce back from their disappointing 1-0 defeat to Oxford United away from home last weekend, but were met with another loss.
Chris Wilder’s side have failed to score in their last two games and have failed to score more than one goal in five of their last six games in the Championship.
Ben Brereton Diaz was substituted at half-time in the defeat to Millwall, as the Chile international continued his struggles in front of goal for the Blades.
Ben Brereton Diaz's goalscoring troubles
The English-born forward started the campaign with Southampton in the Premier League and failed to score in ten appearances in the top-flight before his loan move to Yorkshire in the January transfer window.
Since returning to Bramall Lane, Brereton Diaz has scored three goals in 14 matches and only one goal in his last nine matches in the Championship.
He has scored those three goals from an xG of 3.58 and missed four ‘big chances’ – including one against Millwall – and this suggests that he has been wasteful with the chances that have come his way in the box.
Whilst Brereton Diaz has failed to offer a consistent threat as a goalscorer since his return to Sheffield United, there is a former Blades gem who is currently outscoring him in Europe – Benie Traore.
Why Sheffield United messed up with Benie Traore
The club signed him from Hacken, with their sporting director Martin Ericsson describing it as an “incredible” journey, in the summer of 2023 and the Premier League seemed a step too soon for him, as he failed to score in eight appearances.
Instead of giving the young Ivorian forward an opportunity to shine as part of a team chasing promotion from the Championship, instead of in a struggling Premier League side, Sheffield United decided to sell him to Swiss side Basel last summer.
The 22-year-old attacker, who has been capped five times by his country this season, has enjoyed an impressive campaign in the Swiss top-flight in the 2024/25 campaign, outperforming several Blades attackers.
Traore has played the majority of this season off the left flank, which is where Brereton Diaz has also played at times, and racked up eight goals and seven assists in all competitions.
Appearances
29
24
40
Goals
8
3
2
Big chances missed
6
6
4
Big chances created
9
3
7
Assists
5
3
6
As you can see in the table above, the former Sheffield United gem has outscored both Brereton Diaz and O’Hare at league level, by some distance, despite missing a similar number of ‘big chances’.
He has also created more ‘big chances’ for his teammates than they have for the Blades and the Saints combined, which suggests that Wilder made a mistake by sanctioning his exit last summer.
Sheffield United cashed in on a talented young winger capable of scoring and creating goals at an impressive rate before he got the chance to showcase his talent at Championship level.
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Their goalscoring woes in recent matches could have been solved by having a winger of his quality available for selection, as evidenced by his return of two goals in his last five Super League games.
It may be one that Wilder looks back on with regret if Traore continues his impressive form and goes on to return to one of Europe’s major leagues in the future.