London — Sheffield United’s fate will be sealed on Saturday if they lose at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United avoid defeat against West Ham United, though in reality relegation looked a certainty before Christmas.

So-called “second season syndrome” has claimed several clubs in the past, but Sheffield United’s fall from grace has been both spectacular and surprising in equal measure. In their first season back in the Premier League since 2007 they performed admirably under manager Chris Wilder who had taken over his boyhood club in 2016 when they were languishing in the third-tier League One...

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