Steel city derby set to return in Sheffield after almost 6 years
Sheffield United host their arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane from 12.30pm
It's the first steel city derby in around 5 & a half years this afternoon in the Championship - as Chris Wilder's Sheffield United take on Danny Rohl's Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane this lunch time.
The Blades have been flirting with the automatic promotion spots all season so far, while the Owls have been in and around mid-table up to now.
It was March 2019 when these two sides last met - as they played out a dull 0-0 draw at Hillsborough.
The Blades go into the grudge match having won their last three games in the second tier.
Sheffield Wednesday go into the derby having picked up three points last time out against Norwich, but they were beaten 6-2 at home by Watford in the game before that.
Ash Rodgers is from the Wednesday Week podcast - He says the feeling of tension is unavoidable at this stage:
"I'm nervous for it. I think we've only won once at Bramall Lane is the last fifty years, so it's going to be a tough one.
"It means so much to so many people.
"Sheffield United are near the top of the league, which is heart breaking to see.
"But Sheffield Wednesday do have the tools to hurt the Blades; we're coming off a great result against Norwich."
On the other side, Hal Stewart is from the Sheff United Way YouTube channel:
"Form can go out of the window, and it doesn't always matter who's got the best starting eleven.
"Other factors can come into it, so the apprehension is real at this stage.
"It's not a fun time for either side of the city.
"I don't think many people look forward to this - I've been to so many of these.
"There can be all sorts of little things that can make a huge difference, on a day where everything is on a knife-edge."
Sheffield Wednesday last won at Bramall Lane back in 2009, whilst Sheffield United were the most recent victors in the Steel City derby - beating the Owls 4-2 at Hillsborough in 2017.
Historically, there's been 131 steel city derby games in total.
Sheffield United have the slight upper hand - having won 46 of them - while the Owls have been victorious on 42 occasions.
43 of the games have ended up in draws - including the last 3 of these fixtures - which all finished 0-0.