Why all eyes could be on Chris Wilder on Sunday night after Sheffield United v Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

Sheffield United can do the double over Sheffield Wednesday for the second straight year, and Chris Wilder's celebrations will be something to look at

This Sunday will mark the final Steel City derby for at least a season, as Sheffield United hosts Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane.

Sunday marks the first possibility that Wednesday can be relegated from the Championship, as a dismal campaign, mainly inflicted by off-field issues that have seen the club stripped of key assets and docked 18 points for financial irregularities and entering administration, has seen them remain at the bottom for the majority of the season on a negative points tally.

Being relegated at the home of your fiercest rivals is a tough pill to swallow, especially when, in the opposing dugout, stands boyhood Blade Chris Wilder, who knows how to celebrate a Steel City derby win.

Last season, Sheffield United did the league double over the Owls for the first time since the 2005/06 campaign. Now, they have the opportunity to do it in back-to-back campaigns.

And if Chris Wilder's celebrations from last season's derby day victories are anything to go by, all eyes will be on what he may do if he's able to relegate his bitter rivals.

Chris Wilder has a recent history of Derby Day celebration antics at Sheffield United

The Steel City derby has been a cause for celebration for Sheffield United over the last year and a half, and no one knows that more than Blades boss Chris Wilder.

Wilder was seen celebrating in a pub with fellow Sheffield United fans following the 1-0 win over the Owls at Bramall Lane in November 2024, leading mocking chants towards then-Wednesday boss Danny Rohl.

And while 'sausage Rohl' may have been a bit of light-hearted, drunken banter, his passionate speech following the double-securing win at Hillsborough last March stoked the fire in this fixture, as Wilder confidently stated that the Blades were "dominating" the city when it came to their academies and their stadiums.

"We were ridiculed for so long, six seasons in League One, pub league and so on, when I took over," he said.

"But we managed to slowly close the gap. 100 points in the first season, then we came here and won 4-2, the Meadowhall league manager against the Champions League manager. Then, with about the 14th highest budget, we finished as runners-up.

"What I wanted to do was adjust the narrative of where we were. That we weren't the pub league, that we weren't ridiculed.

"Now we're a little bit more of a rival. Now we're a little bit more of a threat, then we go above them, then we go even further above them. And tonight, we're 31 points above them."

Fighting talk, and talk that Sheffield United surely wouldn't have wanted to have had to back up this season, as they'd have ideally prevailed in the play-off final against Sunderland and would have been back in the Premier League.

However, it wasn't to be, and the two sides have met again in, admittedly, strange circumstances.

The Wednesday financial issues were always there, but the meeting back in November was between two sides in the bottom three, and now, Sheffield United can relegate their rivals in February in a bizarre turn of fate.

All eyes will be on whether Chris Wilder will engage in celebration if Sheffield United complete double

No matter the outcome of the Blades' campaign, Sheffield United will be in a higher division than Sheffield Wednesday during the 2026/27 season, marking another occasion where Chris Wilder will revel in the fact that they are "above them."

However, given the circumstances surrounding Wednesday's situation, will rubbing in a relegation provide the same satisfaction?

The Owls have been a lost cause for most of the season on-field, but none more so than in 2026, when Henrik Pedersen's side has struggled to even score, let alone win games.

The 2-1 defeat last time out against Millwall marked Sheffield Wednesday's first goal of the calendar year, after they went nine games without one — a new club record. It's been close to two months since they last picked up a point, and you'd have to go back to September for their only league win of the campaign.

Relegating the Owls would be like putting a sick dog to rest, and even if it's the dog of your fiercest rivals, would you celebrate in their faces?

It'll remain to be seen how Chris Wilder will react if his side to relegate Wednesday this weekend. At Hillsborough in November, the celebrations were wholly kept between the Blades players and their fans, centred around Patrick Bamford and the Sheffield United boss burying their hatchet following the striker's comments at Leeds United's title celebrations the year before.

So, perhaps that will be the case this weekend, too, on face value at least, if the Blades can do a professional job to win four in a row in the derby.