Sheffield United buckle under pressure as Blades fail to take advantage of Leeds United and Burnley gift

The Black Cats ran out 2-1 winners over Chris Wilder's side seeing goalkeeper Anthony Patterson save Kieffer Moore's first-half spot-kick before goals from Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor condemned the Blades to only their fourth defeat of the season.

Earlier in the day, Leeds and Burnley had both been held to draws by Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, respectively, leaving Sheffield United with the opportunity to go level on points with the league leaders from Elland Road.

However, the injury-hit Blades were unable to capitalise and instead succumbed to defeat, which ultimately led to Leeds extending their lead at the top of the table to three points after 25 games.

"We had a big moment after 15 minutes, to put us in control of the game. We didn't take that, and then there were two really poor mistakes from our point of view. We were loose in possession and they countered on us pretty well. We were better second-half but the goals we conceded were uncharacteristic for us, and I've got to say congratulations to the manager and the players of Sunderland because they defended for their lives," Wilder said at full-time.

Sheffield United travel to play-off chasing Watford this weekend, whilst Leeds are up against third-bottom Hull. Burnley face Blackburn at Ewood Park in what is expected to be a hotly-contested local derby. All of which suggests Leeds are in pole position to potentially extend their lead at the top of th Championship even further before the weekend of the FA Cup Third Round, which should give some of the Whites' most frequently-used players the opportunity to rest after a busy schedule over Christmas and New Year.

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