Leicester City 10/11 Opponents – Preview 6

This is my last Npower Championship preview feature for this season, today I will focus on three teams, Sheffield United, Swansea City and Watford. Comments are indeed welcome…

Sheffield United – Kevin Blackwell still remains in charge of Sheffield United, the 51 old has made numerous changes to his squad over the summer, as many loan signings which joined the club last season have completely gone. Blackwell has a very small squad and numbers could well affect them, in the early part of the 2010/2011 campaign. New signings Steve Simonsen, Johannes Ertl, Leon Britton and Daniel Bogdanovic will all be included in Sheffield United’s squad for their first game of the season. Meanwhile the defence lacks depth as the manager has only five defenders to choose from, rotation may be needed as Blackwell could well play Ertl in defence plus Simon Walton; however the loanee has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Overall the “Blades” could well struggle in the early part of the season, the defence is limited while the midfield has a more defensive look about it, lastly the strikers could well do the damage as Bogdanovic, Henderson and Ched Evans could all be lethal to their opponents. Prediction – 9th

Swansea – Swansea City will be led by new management this season, Brendan Rodgers was the man appointed by chairman Huw Jenkins. It was believed that Rodgers wasn’t Swansea’s first choice, however with a squad to play around with and big named players involved in the unit, the Welsh side could well have another decent campaign. The squad is big on numbers and the club has currently been linked with some high profile players, such as Scott Sinclair of Chelsea. The defence looks very strong as Ashley Williams, Gary Monk and Alan Tate will yet again play key roles this season. In midfield key player Darren Pratley is close to agreeing a new deal, while Scott Donnelly has joined the club from Aldershot Town. Overall Swansea City look a very capable side, however the strikers failed to deliver the goods in 2009/2010 plus the new manager Brendan Rodgers failed at his former club Reading. Prediction – 19th

Watford – Malky Mackay and his “Hornets” have gone backwards over the summer transfer window; the club has been forced to lose many good players especially last year’s loan signings in Tom Cleverley, Henri Lansbury and Watford legend Heider Helguson. On a positive note manager Mackay has stated that he could possibly enforce a number of loan signings into the club, while former manager Graham Taylor will stay on as chairman. Even though Watford will have to rely on a number of youngsters this season, the likes of Lee Hodson, Dale Bennett and Ross Jenkins have already shown that they are capable of playing at Championship level. On the other hand all eyes will be on Danny Graham, he is the main source for the goals other than that 20 year old Will Buckley will have to step up to the plate if Watford are to have a successful season. Overall the squad lacks depth, however most of the youngsters have played at Championship level before, if Danny Graham and Will Buckley start scoring, and the experienced players such as Lloyd Doyley, Adrian Mariappa and John Eustace stay strong relegation won’t be a threat. Prediction – 20th

Opinions Wanted Please