The UK’s Steel City hosts its 146th edition of the hotly contested local rivalry between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United this weekend, the outcome of which could be huge for both teams’ promotion hopes, writes Lee Holdsworth.
Sheffield Wednesday, hosting their rivals for the first time since 2019, are clinging on to what now appears to be faint hopes of a playoff place. While Sheffield United are still in contention for automatic promotion and perhaps even the league title.
The most recent meeting between the two sides, back in November, proved to be a tight encounter with Tyrese Campbell’s 50th -minute winner being the game’s only shot on target. Since that victory in November, the Blades have remained mostly consistent, losing only three of their next twenty-two league games. Sheffield Wednesday’s form, on the other hand, has been anything but consistent, with 9 wins, 6 draws and 7 defeats across their next 22 league games.
Current Form: Inconsistency vs Consistency
After just one defeat in five throughout the latter stages of January and into February, the Owls had risen as high as 8th in the Championship and seemed destined to start increasing the pressure on the playoff-chasing teams above them. However, three defeats in a row – including one at home to fellow playoff hopefuls Coventry City – had seen Wednesday drop down to 13th in the table. Victory over Plymouth last weekend did not improve their position in the league, but a second consecutive league win – a remarkable 3-2 comeback win at Carrow Road after being two goals down at half-time – leaves Wednesday in 10th place and just 5 points shy of a play-off spot. Perfect timing to add even more spice to an already highly anticipated Sheffield derby.
With no league win at Hillsborough since the New Year’s Day victory over Championship strugglers Derby County, the Steel City Derby could provide the ideal setting to kick-start Wednesday’s season once again. The atmosphere will most certainly be charged when the Blades visit on Sunday and will be needed if Wednesday are to come away with anything from this game. Their visitors are arriving on the back of a run of 5 consecutive away wins in the league with only 3 concessions in across those fixtures.
Defensive Strengths and Weaknesses: A Key Factor in the Derby
If Wednesday are to come away with a victory from this game they’re going to need to tighten up a leaky backline that has shipped 9 goals in the last 5 home games in the Championship. At the other end of the pitch, any success going forward looks likely to hinge on Shea Charles, the midfielder on loan from Southampton, Josh Windass – who is into double figures for the season and grabbed his first goal since 1st January on Tuesday – and the ever influential Barry Bannan being on top of their game.
As for United, they will be arriving in high spirits, confident of continuing their impressive recent run over their local rivals. Sheffield United are on a run of 5 consecutive games without defeat against their old foes, with the last defeat coming when both sides met in League One back in 2012. That last defeat did, however, come at Hillsborough, but the Blades have managed to prevent their cross-city arch enemies from breaching their goal in over 360 minutes of football.
At the time of writing, Sheffield United are a point clear of Leeds United at the top of the table (Leeds face Millwall at Elland Road on Wednesday). The Blades need no further motivation when playing in this fixture, but with the league title firmly in their sights, Chris Wilder will be all too aware of the confidence a victory here will bring.
Nobody connected to United will likely care whether promotion arrives via finishing first or second in the league as long as it arrives. With the league title now firmly in their crosshairs, you can be certain that Chris Wilder will be relishing the prospect of being the first Sheffield United boss to deliver the Championship trophy since Reg Freeman in the 1952/53 season.
On a run of 9 victories from their last 12 Championship games, Wilder’s men will arrive at Hillsborough in confidence. Tyrese Campbell is back amongst the goals, three goals in his last three games, including two match-winning strikes in that run. While at the other end of the pitch, United possess one of the league’s best goalkeepers in Michael Cooper. The Englishman has kept 18 clean sheets so far this season.
The defensive differences between the two sides could settle the Steel City Derby this time around. Wednesday, despite being 9 places and 26 points behind their rivals, have actually netted one more goal than United. It is in defence where the Owls have found it tough to gain any level of consistent form. They have shipped 58 goals across their 37 league games this season, that is more than Derby County and only 2 less than Luton Town, two sides currently in the relegation zone.
If you compare that to United, this is a team with a staunch defensive record. Only twenty eight breaches of their goal throughout the league campaign, with only Burnley and Leeds conceding less. With this in mind, you’d have to assume that Wednesday may find it difficult to get beyond the back line of United once again.
The Steel City Derby: A Rivalry with Deep Roots and High Stakes
The history of the fixture speaks for itself. The rivalry stretches back to the 1890s, and the city itself considers itself the birthplace of the beautiful game, given that Sheffield FC is the oldest football club in the world. Bramall Lane is also the oldest football ground in the world still hosting professional football matches.
It is a match that grips a football-mad city from the moment the fixture list is released pre-season. A fixture that divides families. Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, parents and children all going their separate ways on match days, seated at opposite ends of a football stadium for the day. Communication between friends and families is reduced to bragging rights, boasts or disgruntlement, depending on which side of the fence you sit.
The atmosphere inside the ground on 16th March will be one of tension, nervousness, fear and hatred. Of jubilation, possibly, for one side or the other depending on the outcome. Sheffield United will be bringing their full allocation of 2,315 to the upper tier of the Leppings Lane end, whereas the home tickets are practically all gone. It is expected that there will be over 34,000 spectators packed into Hillsborough for one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.
It is an atmosphere where one mistake, one misplaced pass even, can turn the crowd into a frenzy of nervous tension. One goal, a winner, a late winner even better, can raise the decibel level to something you have rarely heard. The stakes are always so high in the Steel City Derby, not only for the right for the winners to call themselves the best team in the city, but, as is the case this time around, there are two promotion pushes ongoing. A good result in this fixture, or conversely a poor result, can ignite or derail a season easily, such is the importance and psychological effect of the game.
Over the last 145 Steel City Derbies, Sheffield United have won 50 whilst Wednesday have 48 victories to their name. Sheffield Wednesday will always have the fact that they were the first ever victors of the rivalry but it is United that hold the bragging rights over recent history. The Blades are currently enjoying an unbeaten run over their neighbours stretching back twelve years. It looks set to be another tight affair given what is always riding on this fixture.
With possible promotion at stake for both sides, the anticipation for this Steel City Derby will be fever pitch. Whether it is Wednesday taking another step towards the play-offs, or United taking one step closer to automatic promotion – or even the league title -one thing is for certain: all eyes, in the city and beyond, will be fixed on Hillsborough on 16th March. It promises, once again, to be packed with high drama, passion and to show why the Steel City Derby is one of the most fiercely contested rivalries in world football.
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