Sheffield United welcome Birmingham City to Bramall Lane on Saturday in the first game of the 2026/27 Championship season.
The Blades will be hoping to start this campaign much better than 12 months ago when they suffered a horrific 4-1 defeat against Bristol City. Of course, this result was a sign of things to come under Spanish manager Ruben Selles. The Spaniard went on to lose the next four league games with the Blades before being sacked following a 5-0 thrashing away at Ipswich Town.
Chris Wilder took over at the helm once again. But despite signs of promise in attack, the Blades massively struggled for consistency over the coming months, and subsequently finished 13th.
Birmingham City, meanwhile, had a strong start to their first campaign back in the second tier. The Blues shared the spoils in their opening fixture against Ipswich Town last year, and then followed that up with a couple of victories versus Blackburn Rovers and Oxford United. However, like the Blades, Birmingham’s form became volatile as the season progressed, and they could only settle for a 10th-place finish.
Team News
United will begin the season without possessing the star qualities of Gustavo Hamer, having sold the Dutch playmaker to Premier League side Coventry City. Wilder will have a new midfielder to choose from this season after Kalvin Phillips officially penned his season-long loan move to S2 from Manchester City, but he is expected to miss the first couple of weeks of the season.
The Blades will be monitoring Tahith Chong closely after the Curaçao winger was forced off in their 3-0 cup win away at Mansfield Town last weekend.
Birmingham boss Chris Davies has a full squad to choose from, along with some new signings. The Blues acquired defender Dael Fry on a free transfer from Middlesbrough this summer to add to their permanent arrivals of Colombian midfielder Jhon Solis and American left-sided player Kristoffer Lund.
Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game
It was experienced striker Patrick Bamford who caught the eye for the Blades for large parts of last season.
Despite coming to the Blades midway through the campaign, the former Leeds United man still finished the season as the Blades’ top scorer with 12 goals in 28 appearances. But Bamford offers much more than just goals.
The 32-year-old has a remarkable understanding of the game. He knows when to come short as a support option, when to roam between the lines and feed his teammates, and when to make a darting run in behind the defence or in the channels. Plus, his first touch is magnificent; he can play one and two touch combination play, as well as making first time finishes with either feet or even his head.
Blades gaffer Chris Wilder will be hoping the fan favourite can replicate his scoring form from last term. The striker has already found the net this month during United’s EFL Cup win against Mansfield.
Birmingham City’s Impact Player For This Game
On paper, the Blues possess some very good attacking options. And the one that always stands out at this level is Demarai Gray.
At 30 years old, the Jamaican winger is still one of the most electric players in the Championship. With five goals and five assists last term, he will be looking to improve on these figures, and he may well open his account for the new season at Bramall Lane.
Gray is very tricky to contain because of his ability to dribble and chop onto either foot and deliver a teasing cross or an effort on goal. And he will thrive if the game becomes somewhat stretched and a game of transitional play.
He will likely be facing one of the most explosive players in the league however in Femi Seriki. While Seriki can match him stride for stride, it’s fair to say the Blades do lack pace in central areas. Notably the likes of Sydie Peck, Jairo Riedewald, Joe Rothwell and Mark McGuinness are slow. So if the visitors can create a counter-attack opportunity and have Gray running through the middle, then they could cause lots of problems for United.
My Prediction
This should be a fun one to watch for the neutrals; last season both sides struggled for clean sheets and it could yet be the same for this campaign.
When these two sides met at Bramall Lane last December it was the Blades that thumped the ten men of Birmingham 3-0.
I do think we’ll see a few goals in this fixture once more, but I don’t expect a 3-0 from either team. Sheffield United will edge the visitors in a back-and-forth 2-1 win.