Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday predictions: Could be tight at Stadium of Light

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday in the League One playoff semi-final first leg on Friday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football & Main Event, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

Draw
1pt 23-10 bet365

Team news

Sunderland
Nathan Broadhead is a doubt but Dennis Cirkin and Leon Dajaku could be back in contention. Carl Winchester remains sidelined.

Sheffield Wednesday
Harlee Dean (calf) returns to the squad but Dominic Iorfa and Ciaran Brennan remain sidelined and Barry Bannan is an injury doubt.

Match preview

Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday are the heavyweight pair in this season's League One playoffs but neither may land a knockout blow in the first leg of their semi-final clash at the Stadium of Light.

The pair's league meetings this term were one-sided affairs, with Wednesday winning 3-0 at Hillsborough in November and Sunderland romping to a 5-0 success on Wearside a month later. However, both have been harder to beat in recent months.

Sunderland were in danger of missing out on the playoffs after a six-game winless run from late-January to late-February, which included the first three games under new manager Alex Neil. However, Neil led them to a 3-0 success at Wigan in his fourth match in charge and the Black Cats haven't lost since.

Sunderland clinched a playoff place with a 1-0 success at Morecambe on the final day of the regular season, but it came at a cost as goalscorer Nathan Broadhead came off injured after 25 minutes.

Everton loanee Broadhead has struck up a successful strike-partnership with Ross Stewart, who is second in the League One scoring charts with 24 goals.

There is no like-for-like replacement for Broadhead in Sunderland's squad and his potential absence could mean a change of shape, with either Jack Clarke or Aidan McGeady asked to join Alex Pritchard in supporting roles behind Stewart.

No manager wants to lose a key player for such a vital game but the same scenario could also apply to Wednesday gaffer Darren Moore, who is sweating on the fitness of playmaker Barry Bannan.

Moore was forced to withdraw the 32-year-old before the end of Saturday's 4-1 success at home to Portsmouth which was enough to secure fourth place.

The Owls boss is blessed with one of the strongest squads in League One but Bannan's ability to dictate a game is arguably superior to any other player in the division, so it would be a major blow if he was unable to feature heavily in the playoffs.

While Wednesday could be weakened in midfield, they do look strong in both boxes.

Harlee Dean's return to fitness gives them another quality centre-back option and they have an array of Championship-quality forwards with Saido Berahino, Lee Gregory, Callum Paterson, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Josh Windass jostling for places.

Wednesday finished the season strongly, claiming 45 points from their final 20 games, and their home haul of 53 points from a possible 69 is the best in the division.

The Owls would fancy their chances of beating any playoff rival at Hillsborough and they can set up a winner-takes-all second leg by keeping the scores level on Wearside.

Key stat

Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 13 matches.

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