[Sport] Sheffield United: Are Blades the Premier League's best newcomers?

[King_of_lion]

Chris Wilder's Sheffield United have wowed the Premier League on their return to the English top flight this season.

The Blades sit eighth and are still in the hunt for a Europa League spot.

With two games to go, they have already surpassed their best Premier League points total and are on course for their best top-flight league finish for 45 years.

But how do Wilder's outfit compare to previous newly promoted high-flyers in the competition?

Win their final two fixtures, at home against Everton on Monday and at Southampton on Sunday, and Sheffield United will finish on an impressive 60 points.

It would make them the fifth-best Premier League newcomers in terms of points per game (1.58) and the promoted side to achieve the most overall points in almost 20 years.

So who has bettered the Blades' points total in the past?

Newcastle '94 & Forest '95
Andy Cole
Andy Cole scored 34 goals for Newcastle in the 1993-94 season
You have to go back to the mid-'90s to find the best of the promoted bunch, with Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest storming to third-place finishes in successive seasons.

They also had the advantage of a 42-game season to clock up more points.

1993-94: Newcastle United: 3rd (77 points, 1.83 ppg)

Kevin Keegan's Newcastle came third in 1993-94 with a league-high 82 goals, 34 of those scored by Andy Cole, who won the Golden Boot as Peter Beardsley chipped in with 21 of his own.

Newcastle finished 15 points adrift of champions Manchester United and seven behind runners-up Blackburn Rovers, but an entertaining debut season in the Premier League earned Keegan's side a Uefa Cup spot.

1994-95: Nottingham Forest: 3rd (77 points, 1.83 ppg)

The following season, it was new boys Nottingham Forest's turn to set the top flight alight. Forest, and legendary boss Brian Clough, had been relegated in the inaugural Premier League season but returned at the first attempt and for a spell looked like mounting an unlikely title challenge.

After a mid-season blip, they recovered to go unbeaten in their final 12 games of the season and finish third behind champions Blackburn and Manchester United.

Stan Collymore netted 22 times in a prolific strike partnership with Bryan Roy, while captain Stuart Pearce and goalkeeper Mark Crossley provided a solid base for boss Frank Clark.