Sheffield United and Chris Wilder have shown up bigger clubs and better managers than West Ham and David Moyes this season, but the contrast between both teams' approaches at Manchester City remains no less embarrassing.

On both occasions, a Kevin De Bruyne assist and goal gave the soon-to-be-deposed champions a routine home victory but there the similarity ends.

"It's not a secret where they are in the table," Pep Guardiola reflected after Sheffield United took eight shots, created three Big Chances, completed 87 attacking third passes and sent 16 crosses into the City penalty area.

West Ham took three shots, created zero Big Chances, completed 38 attacking third passes and delivered five fewer crosses. The headline statistics also fail to encapsulate the gulf between West Ham and Sheffield United when it came to intangible attributes such as courage, intensity and purpose.

As well as trying to keep West Ham up, Moyes is in an ideological battle to prove he can be more than a firefighter manager at Premier League level.

Can he can build a club on meagre resources and punch above his weight in 2020, just as he did at Everton a decade ago? The unwelcome comparison with Wilder's ambitious and proactive approach to matches is troubling then, because it can hardly be argued Sheffield United have more talented players than West Ham. Their squad may be more balanced and coherent perhaps, but there is no quality deficit.