What AI thinks will happen in Sheffield United v Sheffield Wednesday - final outcome revealed | OneFootball

AI has predicted what will happen in Sunday's Steel City derby at Bramall Lane

The second Steel City derby of the Championship season is now fast-approaching, at it is one which bears huge implications for both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.

However, unlike the first meeting of the campaign between the two sides at Hillsborough on November 23rd, there is now a gap of almost 50 points which separates the Blades and the Owls, with Henrik Pedersen's team and their supporters already knowing of their eventual fate of relegation back to League One way before their trip to Bramall Lane was on the horizon.

Chris Wilder has overseen a major upsurge in fortunes since he returned to S2 for a third stint in the dugout at his boyhood club in September, during which United were sat below their cross-city rivals and the second tier's crisis club despite their well-documented financial difficulties and threadbare squad.

The Blades come into this encounter having suffered just three defeats in their past 11 Championship matches, with their most recent outing seeing them emerge 1-0 victors over Portsmouth at Fratton Park courtesy of Andre Brooks' 90th-minute winner.

That result saw them move up to 15th, although they are just six points behind the final play-off spot with 14 matches remaining, whilst Wednesday could either see the (R) appear alongside them mathematically at some point this weekend.

If Blackburn Rovers or West Bromwich Albion fail to pick up any points in their weekend encounters, the Owls' relegation - which will be the quickest-ever in EFL history - could be rubber-stamped by a loss at Bramall Lane.

With United the clear favourites to back up their resounding 3-0 success in S6 three months ago, Football League World asked AI-based chatbot, ChatGPT, to predict the scoreline of this fierce encounter, as well as issuing predictions of key details.

AI backs Sheffield United to confirm Sheffield Wednesday's EFL Championship relegation

Unsurprisingly, AI has backed the home side to confirm the Owls' relegation back to League One for the first time since defeating Barnsley at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final back in May 2023.

The computer believes that, whilst current form and logic certainly points towards a United victory, so does the fixture's recent history, with Wilder yet to suffer defeat against the Blades' bitter foes across his three stints in charge, with Wednesday last taking three points in this fixture 14 years ago this month in a League One matchup.

It has been forecast that United won't take long to find the breakthrough against Pedersen's side, who have already shipped 64 goals this term, with AI claiming that Patrick Bamford will net his eighth league goal in 16 appearances after 15 minutes.

Despite suffering a setback, as has been the case in several of their matches under Pedersen this season, AI predicts that Wednesday will struggle to gain any sort of foothold in the game in the first half, despite being backed by a sell-out allocation of supporters in the away end.

Although it has been predicted that this will change in the opening minutes of the second period, AI believes the Blades' sturdy rearguard will absorb the pressure and then hit the Owls where it hurts in the latter stages.

As such, one of Callum O'Hare or Gustavo Hamer have been backed to make it 2-0 with 20 minutes to spare, with the goal likely to come from a set-piece where the hosts have flooded the box.

Unsurprisingly, AI also believes that there will be several cards shown by referee, Josh Smith, as the game peters out to a result which could push United closer to the play-offs, whilst Wednesday's supporters, to an extent, will have finally been put out of their misery when it comes to an official relegation.

It would be a major turn up for the books if Wednesday were to take a point away from Bramall Lane, never mind all three, meaning AI's prediction is hard to disagree with.

This would make it a seventeenth year since the Owls last tasted victory on enemy territory, and a result which would back up any claims that the two sides could, once again, be separated by two divisions next season, which would be the first time for over four decades, when United were in the third tier and Wednesday were in the top-flight.