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Sheffield United kicked off their Championship season with a goalless draw at home to Birmingham City this evening. A draw was about the right result, with both goalkeepers making a save each and the two sides otherwise largely cancelling each other out. City’s moment came in the first half when Jay Stansfield forced a smart save out of Michael Cooper, who then watched on as his opposite number James Beadle kept out Patrick Bamford’s effort from a tight angle. Both sides also had appeals for a penalty waved away, Phil Neumann going down under the challenge of Sam McCallum in the first half before sub Harrison Burrows did likewise in the second under close attention from Bright Osayi-Samuel. Here’s how we rated United’s players as they got their first point on the board of 2026/27... 1. Michael Cooper 7 Looked much more like his old self in pre-season after his injury recovery and continued that here with a composed display which, for the most part, consisted of catching crosses into the box under pressure. But he did that well, taking pressure off his defenders, and then saved well down to his right to keep out a well-hit effort from Stansfield as he had the first real shot on target in the entire game after the hour mark | The Star/Sport image 2. Femi Seriki 6 Got forward plenty when he had the chance to stretch his legs and City couldn't seem to keep up with his pace and power, but he couldn't find the bit of quality to pick out a man in the middle when he got in behind and also sold Donovan short a couple of times with poor passes to send the ball out of play when the loan man could have been free against his former club | The Star/Sport Image 3. Japhet Tanganga 7 Some excellent pieces of defending from the United skipper, including a moment when he got there ahead of Priske early on and took a whack for his troubles, but the best moment came with an excellent covering tackle to prevent what would have surely been the opener for the Blues as he raced back and blocked as Vicente looked to square rather than shoot. United didn't have enough big moments defensively last term but this was one on the opening day | The Star/Sport Image 4. Mark McGuinness 6 The suspicion pre-game was that McGuinness had been included to combat the threat of the lanky City striker Priske but it was Tanganga who ended up dominating him in the air, with McGuinness slotting in beside him with the minimum of fuss. It's no secret that he's available for a move elsewhere but as long as he is here, he is acting as a professional should and doing himself no harm as a result | The Star/Sport Image