Sheffield United v Sunderland: Line-ups, stats and preview

Preview for Sheffield United v Sunderland

Dubbed the ‘biggest game in English football’, tomorrow sees Sunderland take on Sheffield United at Wembley in the Championship playoff final.

The riches on offer by playing Premier League football means the fixture is worth a reported £200million in additional income, not that either of the teams, or the 90,000 fans set to pack Wembley, will be thinking about that.

Sheffield United are overwhelming favourites having finished the regular season on 90 points, 14 clear of the fourth-placed Wearsiders.

They also cruised past Bristol City in their semi-final, winning 3-0 home and away, and will arrive in London in confident mood.

Sunderland required a last-gasp Dan Ballard header to scrape past Coventry 3-2 on aggregate after a nervy night at the Stadium of Light.

Should Sunderland win tomorrow, it would complete a long and arduous trek back to the top flight after successive relegations in 2017 and 2018 followed by four seasons in League One.

Their model is to buy young, untried players and mould them into assets that can contribute to the journey before being sold on for profit.

Jobe Bellingham – brother of Real Madrid star Jude – will start tomorrow on what could be his final appearance before an expected departure over the summer.

Bellingham is 19 years of age, two years older than fellow starlet Chris Rigg, who has also attracted attention from several of Europe’s top clubs.

It is a big ask for teenagers to step into a game of this magnitude but Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris is confident they will handle it.

“It’s not always a question of age, it’s a question of connection with the path,” the Frenchman said.

“You can be 17 and you can be ready for this fixture. Or you can be 30, and probably have problems managing your emotions.

“The players seem mature for this event.”

United have the benefit of parachute payments and their squad boasts plenty of players that have done it at this level.

As a club, however, the Blades have struggled in the play-offs and have yet to emerge victorious in nine previous attempts.

Boss Chris Wilder insists that statistic is irrelevant.

“If I listen to all the narrative we might as well not turn up and might as well give myself a holiday,” Wilder told Sky Sports. 

“I’ve been to the majority of the [play-off defeats] and I was probably saying the same thing as what the majority of the punters are saying as well.

“We’re trying to write our own little bit in the chapter of this famous football club. There’s everything to gain from this group. You know, we’ve not been weighed down by any negativity at all.

“There’s been a real reset since we missed out on promotion. What we wanted to do after the Burnley game was to get ourselves back in form, get a couple of wins, and we managed that.

“We’re in great shape physically. The players are playing with a real light shirt and we’re really positive.

Sheffield United v Sunderland Team News

Ollie Arblaster remains sidelined for Sheffield United but Ben Brereton Diaz and Femi Seriki are fit.

Romaine Mundle is likely to start on the left wing for Sunderland which will allow Enzo Le Fee to move into the middle. Wilson Isidor could miss out.

Tomorrow, we go to London. pic.twitter.com/oDTxUrOiKv

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) May 22, 2025

Sheffield United v Sunderland predicted line-ups

Sheffield United: Cooper; Choudhury, Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Burrows; Brewster, Peck, Vinicius Souza, Hamer; Moore, Campbell

Sunderland: Patterson; Hume, O’Nien, Ballard, Cirkin; Neil, Bellingham, Le Fee; Roberts, Mundle, Mayenda

How to watch Sheffield United v Sunderland: TV and online stream

Sheffield United v Sunderland kicks off at 3.01pm tomorrow afternoon and will be shown live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event. It can be streamed on the Sky Go app.

Stats for Sheffield United v Sunderland

• Sheffield United have outscored their opponents in both halves in each of their last 2 games
• Sunderland went into the playoffs having not won any of their last five games
• The two games in the regular season between the teams saw one win apiece

Prediction for Sheffield United v Sunderland

Over the course of 46 games, Sheffield United showed themselves to be the better side.

And we think they will have the edge at Wembley.

Prediction: Sheffield United 2-1 Sunderland