Wilder's own Dan Ballard: Sheffield United have struck gold with £14m star
da premier bet： Whilst Sunderland had to dig deep in order to beat Coventry City over two entertaining playoff matches, Sheffield United enjoyed a fair more straightforward route to the Wembley showpiece.
da bwin： The Championship high-flyers easily got the better of Liam Manning’s Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate, with the Blades barely having to break a sweat to defeat the dazzled Robins.
Chris Wilder’s men won’t be heading into their promotion-or-bust showdown with Sunderland full of arrogance that another simple win will be picked up, however, with Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats far more of a formidable foe for United to try and topple.
The Sunderland players who could hurt Sheffield United
Whilst Bristol City just about managed to sneak into the playoff picture in sixth position, the Wearside outfit have been in and around the top six for some time now, with the Black Cats desperate to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
Wilder’s side will have other ideas obviously, but the Blades will have to be switched on throughout, meaning the likes of Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor will have to be kept quiet all match long.
After all, the Championship side’s top goalscorer for the season would get the ball rolling for his side away at Coventry, with an emphatic finish breaking the first leg deadlock.
Wilder will require the likes of Michael Cooper and Jack Robinson to be as switched on as they were against the Robins, with a well-deserved two clean sheets tallied up.
But, there is also the added test of keeping Bellingham quiet in the forward areas, with the 19-year-old sensation reportedly on the radar of Borussia Dortmund, and for good reason, after picking up four goals and three assists himself in league action.
Le Bris’ men aren’t solely reliant on these two to conjure up a spark, however, with centre-back colossus Daniel Ballard actually proving to be the difference-maker last time out with a last-gasp header.
Thankfully for Wilder, he also possesses a goal-hungry defender in his ranks, similar to Ballar,d who will be keen to leave his mark on the nail-biting contest at Wembley.
Sheffield United's very own Ballard
Amazingly, much like his ex-Arsenal counterpart managed versus Coventry, Anel Ahmedhodzic has previously found himself in the right place at the right time to fire his team into a momentous lead.
Way back in April 2023, United teetered on the edge of a return to the Premier League. The promotion-hungry Blades needed just one more precious victory to get over the line, and after Ahmedhodzic’s flick beat the West Bromwich Albion keeper to give Paul Heckingbottom’s men a 2-0 lead, their joyous return to the big time was finally confirmed.
The “dominant” Bosnian – as he’s been labelled in the past by scout Jacek Kulig – will hope he has more dramatic moments like this strike up his sleeve ahead of the Blades’ forthcoming trip to Wembley, but his overall defensive game this season is also in-keeping with Ballard’s imposing presence, away from mirroring his notable eye for goal.
Across 38 games in the Championship this campaign, Ahmedhodzic has been able to pick up a respectable 15 clean sheets, with his total overall donning Blades red and white in the tricky division across two campaigns coming in at a bumper 31.
Ahmedhodzic vs Ballard – Championship career
Stat
Ahmedhodzic
Ballard
Games played
72
84
Goals scored
9
6
Assists
3
1
Clean sheets
31
18
Stats by Sofascore
Ballard lags behind on a lesser 18 when looking at the table above, with his impressive goal tally of six also trumped by the Blades number 15, even from 12 fewer league games.
This will be a fascinating battle to take in when the Championship playoff final rolls around, with one of the two defensive enforcers having to inevitably make do with second-tier life again.
The £14m-rated colossus will be praying he’s the lucky centre-back that returns to the Premier League, but anything can happen when the nerves are ramped up.
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