Sheffield United head back to Bramall Lane on Friday aiming to build a lead at the top of the Championship table at the beginning of the latest round of fixtures, having put a strong unbeaten run together either side of the November international break.
After suffering their only two league defeats of the season thus far consecutively in mid-October, the Blades have won five and drawn one of their last six outings, heading into the latest break on the back of four straight victories culminating in a 1-0 Steel City Derby triumph over rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
Chris Wilder‘s men faced a trip to Coventry City on their return to action last Saturday and left with a point from a 2-2 draw thanks to first-half goals from Tyrese Campbell and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, before quickly bouncing back to winning ways at home to Oxford United on Tuesday as Callum O’Hare, Campbell and Rak-Sakyi got on the scoresheet in a 3-0 triumph.
That extended an eye-catching run for the Blades on home turf, having won each of their last seven games at Bramall Lane without conceding, while only Burnley have conceded fewer than the nine goals that Wilder’s men have allowed in their 17 games in total, netting 24 goals at the other end along the way.
Now sitting second in their bid for promotion back to the Premier League on 35 points and only trailing leaders Leeds United on goal difference, despite beginning with a two-point deduction, Sheffield United will look to build a lead over the chasing pack with an eighth straight home win on Friday.
They face a tough test, though, as the visitors travel to South Yorkshire aiming to leapfrog the Blades and extend their own 10-game unbeaten streak in England’s second tier.
Sunderland have enjoyed an impressive start to the 2024-25 Championship campaign following the summer appointment of Regis Le Bris, amassing 33 points from their first 17 outings having picked up nine victories and only suffering two defeats.
The most recent of those losses came in late September, although the Black Cats’ 10-match unbeaten run since does include their first six draws of the campaign, including five consecutively heading into Saturday’s trip, initially heading into the recent break on the back of stalemates with Queens Park Rangers, Preston North End and Coventry City.
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A trip to Millwall followed on their return, and Le Bris’s side had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw following Semi Azeez‘s injury-time leveller for their hosts after Aaron Connolly had them 1-0 up, before they most recently hosted fellow promotion-chasers West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday and again shared the spoils as neither side managed to break the deadlock.
Now boasting the league’s longest undefeated run but having fallen off top spot as a result of their failure to get over the line in recent games, Sunderland will be keen to bounce back to winning ways and return to the summit of the Championship on Friday.
