Sheffield Wednesday vs Sheffield United – The Steel City Derby Preview | OneFootball

Promotion chasers Sheffield United travel across the Steel City to take on play-off hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday.

The two teams come into derby day with contrasting emotions. United conceded a 90th minute equaliser at home against Bristol City in midweek, in a game where they were largely outplayed. Meanwhile, Wednesday came from 2-0 down away at Norwich City to win 3-2 after netting three times in 12 minutes in the second half.

The Owls are remarkably 23rd in the home table, winning only five times in 18 attempts in the Championship. The Blades are the best away side in the division, winning 11 times in 18 games and drawing four of them.

With Wednesday just five points off the play-off places, as of writing, it seems as though they are beginning to wake up and fire on all cylinders; they’ve scored seven goals in the last three games. United’s strength all season has been the defence, but it has certainly been more inconsistent since the injury to Harry Souttar back in December, and they’ve only managed one clean sheet in their last four.

Chris Wilder’s Blades have the chance of doing the double over the Owls for the first time since the 2005/06 campaign, which just so happened to be a Championship promotion-winning season for United. Ironically, the first derby fixture ended in a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane that season as well. Is history going to  repeat itself?

Team News

Danny Rohl will be without Stuart Armstrong, Di’Shon Bernard, Anthony Musaba, Yan Valery and Akin Famewo. Barry Bannan was forced off against Norwich City with an injury that is being described as “minor”, so you’d expect him to be fine for Sunday’s derby.

Wilder recently confirmed that Rhys Norrington-Davies will join Oliver Arblaster as being out for the season after he suffered an unfortunate injury when featuring for the development team. Tom Davies will not be seen until after the international break. Harry Clarke and Alfie Gilchrist are doubts for Sunday. But, United’s in-form striker Tyrese Campbell will be okay for the weekend after suffering a contact injury against Bristol City. And it is thought that Vinicius Souza will be good to go as well.

Sheffield Wednesday’s Impact Player For This Game

Shea Charles has had a superb first full season as a first-team player. He’s proven his quality in midfield in the Championship in various aspects of the game. In 34 appearances, he has netted once and made five assists.

Not only is the Northern Irish midfielder excellent in terms of progressing play, he’s brilliant at the defensive side of things, highlighting his ability to be an excellent box-to-box midfielder.

Charles averages almost six progressive passes per game, ranking him in the 83rd percentile compared to other Championship midfielders this season. He also averages over one key pass per game and he ranks in the 84th percentile for assists per 90.

With almost three tackles per game, Charles ranks in the 86th percentile in the tackling metric, whilst he also ranks in the 92nd percentile in interceptions. Against dribblers, he is fantastic, averaging a tackle success rate of 61%, which is enough to rank him in the 80th percentile.

Shea Charles is one of very few midfielders in the Championship that can match the physicality and volume of duels that Vinicius Souza brings to the table. And at the same time, carries the same sort of finesse about his game that the Brazilian does. If Wednesday are to be successful on Sunday, the Southampton loanee must have a big performance, and he is very capable of doing so.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 10: Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Sheffield Wednesday FC at Bramall Lane on November 10, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images)

Who put the ball in the Wednesday net? Tyrese Campbell is United’s most impactful player right now, and to be fair perhaps all season. The reason I say that is because Sheffield United have looked bad for much of the season in attack whenever Campbell hasn’t played.

He is seemingly the only striker that is on the same wavelength as the other players in attack, hence why he is regularly getting in scoring positions. He also provides the Blades with an out-ball because his pace can threaten teams down the channels, and he has the strength and IQ to hold the ball up and potentially draw fouls.

Campbell ranks in the highest possible percentile in terms of non-penalty goals per 90 compared to every other Championship forward. He’s a creative outlet for the Blades too, evident in his top 10% ranking in terms of expected assisted goals per 90.

My Prediction

As much as it pains me to say it: Sheffield Wednesday are a well-coached team. They’ve averaged 1.27 non-penalty xG per game, United have averaged 1.23. Both teams record a high volume of touches inside the opposition penalty area, so the two teams are practically equal in these metrics.

The difference between the two teams is that the Blades average more possession than the Owls (50% versus 46%). Meanwhile, Rohl’s team register the fourth-most crosses per game, with Wilder’s team being last in terms of crosses.

Lastly, United have a far better defence and goalkeeper than Wednesday; the Owls have conceded almost six goals more than they should have. On the flip side, the Blades have conceded almost nine goals less than what they should have, thanks to some superb efforts from Harry Souttar earlier in the season, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Jack Robinson, and Michael Cooper in goal.

This game could be a carbon copy of the reverse fixture at Bramall Lane back in November. Neither team will want to lose considering what’s at stake; not just bragging rights of winning a derby but also with promotion and play-off chances being impacted. I am predicting a scoreless draw for this game.

All stats taken from Opta and FBref.