Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland will go head-to-head once again this evening at Hillsborough with a place in the Sky Bet League One promotion play-off final at stake.
A capacity crowd is expected in South Yorkshire for the second leg of a semi-final tie between two clubs who are both desperate to return to the second-tier of English football.
Alex Neil’s Sunderland will begin the match with a one-goal lead after beating the Owls 1-0 at the Stadium of Light three days ago, but as Wednesday have home advantage tonight, the tie is still very much up for grabs.
Story of the first leg
The Black Cats have Ross Stewart to thank for the cushion they sit on ahead of the game after the Scottish striker netted the only goal of Friday’s first leg.
Making the most of an error from Wednesday’s Sam Hutchinson, Stewart rolled the ball past Bailey Peacock-Farrell at the second time of asking with just seconds to go until half-time.
Had Sunderland been more clinical on the night, they could have won the match by a bigger margin, with both Stewart and Alex Pritchard missing good chances in the second period.
Therefore, Wednesday will feel fortunate that they are only one goal behind going into the second leg, and Owls supporters will expect a much-improved performance from their side this evening.
How this fixture went during the regular season…
When Sunderland visited Hillsborough in November of last year, they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat, with Wednesday’s victory secured thanks to strikes from Theo Corbeanu, Florian Kamberi and Lee Gregory.
The same result tonight would send Darren Moore’s men through to the play-off final, but the Black Cats will take some comfort from the fact that they have not conceded more than two goals in any match under manager Neil.
Wycombe await the winners
Wycombe Wanderers booked their spot in the League One play-off final last night after edging past MK Dons in their own two-legged semi-final.
WYCOMBE WANDERERS REACH THE SKY BET LEAGUE ONE PLAY-OFF FINAL đź’Żpic.twitter.com/yLcY9FHfZK
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 8, 2022
Having won promotion to the Championship via the same method just two years ago, Gareth Ainsworth’s Chairboys will undoubtedly make for difficult opposition in the final, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday 21 May.
Predicted line-ups
Sheffield Wednesday (3-5-2): Peacock-Farrell; Storey, Dean, Hutchinson; Hunt, Bannan, Luongo, Byers, Johnson; Gregory, Paterson
Sunderland (3-4-1-2): Patterson; Wright, Batth, Cirkin; Gooch, Evans, O’Nien, Clarke; Pritchard; Broadhead, Stewart
How to watch
This evening’s match is available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football, with coverage starting at 7.30pm.
The game itself will kick-off at 7.45pm, and should the scoreline over the two legs be level after 90 minutes, extra time – and potentially a penalty shootout – will be played to determine which team makes it to Wembley.
