Sheffield United vs Sheffield Wednesday – Preview | OneFootball

Sheffield United host their rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane on Sunday afternoon in the final Steel City derby of the 2025/26 Championship season.

The Blades enter Sunday having stolen all three points late on away at Portsmouth last weekend in the 90th minute. That result means United have picked up ten points across their last five matches.

The Owls, meanwhile, have lost nine games in a row; their last point they won came in a goalless draw at home against Blackburn Rovers on the 29th of December. To make matters even worse, Wednesday have only scored one single goal since their Boxing Day 2-2 draw against Hull City.

Previous Steel City Derby Results

Heading into Sunday’s game, Sheffield United have the opportunity to do something extremely rare in this fixture’s history. A Blades win would see them record back-to-back Steel City derby doubles, something that has only ever happened once before: the Blades achieved this feat across the 1933/34 and 1937/38 seasons.

Of course, last season the side hailing from S2 earned 1-0 victories home and away thanks to goals from Tyrese Campbell and Rhian Brewster.

Earlier on this season, United travelled to S6 and completely battered the Owls in a 3-0 win. But, in truth, it could’ve been much worse for Wednesday.

At this point, the blue half of Sheffield may have forgotten what it’s actually like to celebrate a goal against the Blades. The last time the Owls scored a goal in the derby was in the 2017/18 season when they scored two goals at Hillsborough in the Bouncing Day Massacre when United, coming up from League One, dismantled Wednesday 4-2 on their own patch. This means Sheffield Wednesday haven’t put a goal past the Blades in six derby days.

Team News

The Blades will remain without Joe Rothwell, who will serve his second of his three-match ban. Sam McCallum remains sidelined with a long-term ankle injury. Chris Wilder has admitted Jairo Riedewald could be available for selection this weekend.

Wednesday are stretched deep. Pierce Charles is still suffering from a shoulder issue, while defenders Dominic Iorfa, Di’shon Bernard and Max Lowe are all set to miss the final Steel City derby of the season. Nathaniel Chalobah is dealing with a hamstring problem while Sean Fusire is also questionable.

Meanwhile, the Owls have made an emergency loan move to bring in experienced goalkeeper Seny Dieng. Remarkably, this will mean they have had a total of seven different goalkeepers feature for them this campaign.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 23: Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United scores his team’s first goal past goalkeeper Ethan Horvath of Sheffield Wednesday during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United at Hillsborough on November 23, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Part of me thinks Chris Wilder will bring Tyrese Campbell back into the starting eleven to partner up Patrick Bamford, and this duo up front should put the Owls to the sword.

Campbell has the speed to stretch the defence and play on the last shoulder of the centre-backs. While Bamford has the technique and the vision to drop short and lay the ball off to midfield runners, or, play a threaded pass in behind the defence for someone like Campbell to run onto.

Between them, the pair have contributed to 14 goal contributions, and whilst Campbell may have been quiet recently, he’s written his name into the history books in this fixture with three goals and one assist in his three previous Steel City matches.

Sheffield Wednesday’s Impact Player For This Game

Well this is a tricky one… Sheffield Wednesday are going to go down as the worst Championship side in history. But, as we all know, anything can happen in this division, especially in a derby clash.

The Owls will have to lean on one of their most senior players such as Jamal Lowe to conjure up a bit of magic in and around United’s 18-yard-box. The Jamaican international has scored three goals this term, with his most recent one coming last weekend in Wednesday’s defeat to Millwall at Hillsborough.

Lowe does have the quality to hurt the Blades if given an opportunity. We’re talking about a player that was once a standout performer in the Championship for Swansea City and eventually earned him a big money move to AFC Bournemouth. However, that version of the forward does seem a distant memory. Nevertheless, that could all change in an instant in front of goal. But let’s not forget, Wednesday have not scored a goal against United in almost nine years.

My Prediction

Without dismissing the Owls entirely and showing complete disrespect to the opposition, this is still a derby game. And that often means tactics and form gets thrown right out of the window. But, with the Blades being at home, and with the strength of their squad, they should win handsomely.

Sheffield United will win this one 4-0, marking yet another double over their bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Stats taken from Fotmob and Opta.