Looking to bounce back following defeats last time out, Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County will clash at Hillsborough in the Championship on New Year's Day.
The Owls suffered a 3-1 loss at the home of Preston North End on Sunday, whilst the Rams were beat by Leeds United, who are marching towards the Premier League.
Match preview
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Since Christmas Day, Sheffield Wednesday's festive schedule has taken a turn for the worst, with Wednesday afternoon's hosts collecting just the single point across matches against Middlesbrough and Preston, with the most recent of those clashes ending in defeat on Sunday.
Despite a second-half strike from attacker Josh Windass, the Owls returned from Deepdale with nothing tangible to show for their considerable efforts as a brace from Emil Riis Jakobsen and a penalty from Sam Greenwood sealed maximum points for Paul Heckingbottom's men.
Hurtling into the New Year and the end of a busy period, Sheffield Wednesday are currently occupying 11th spot in the Championship rankings, 12 points behind Cardiff City in the highest of the relegation spots and four points behind sixth-placed Boro, who are guarding entry to the playoffs.
Danny Rohl's Owls would be closer to the scrap for second-tier survival if the league table was determined purely on home form, with Wednesday's hosts winning only four of their 12 Championship contests at Hillsborough this term, although the most recent of those successes arrived last time out in Yorkshire against Stoke City.
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After a second-placed finish in League One last season and subsequent promotion back to the Championship at the second time of asking, Derby County have made an admirable start to their 2024-25 campaign, defying pre-season expectations of seriously struggling to survive.
That being said, the Rams arrive into the New Year following a highly-disappointing defeat at their East Midlands base on Sunday evening, when Premier League-chasing Leeds turned up at Pride Park and returned home with maximum points courtesy of Brenden Aaronson's effort.
Losing two of their last three second-tier fixtures of 2024, Paul Warne's troops have dropped down to 16th spot in the Championship standings ahead of Wednesday's trip to Hillsborough, 10 points back from the playoff picture and just six points ahead of the Bluebirds in 22nd spot.
Enjoying maximum points from just one of their 12 second-tier outings so far during the 2024-25 campaign, only Luton Town (4), Oxford United (2) and Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle (2) have collected fewer points on the road in the Championship than Derby (7) to date.
Team News
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Sheffield Wednesday remain without the services of centre-back Akin Famewo, who has not featured in the league since the end of October due to a muscle injury.
The Owls' options at the back are reduced further by the absence of Dominic Iorfa, with the 29-year-old picking up a hip injury at Deepdale last time out.
As a result, the hosts will require a new face at the heart of their backline, with 19-year-old Gabriel Otegbayo a candidate for the role.
Derby are also battling with a key absentee in defence, with Eiran Cashin targeting a return to action in a few weeks from a hamstring strain.
The Rams backline issues are compounded by the long-term unavailability of David Ozoh (hamstring), who has not played a competitive part since September.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Otegbayo, Valentin, Lowe; Valery, Charles, Gassama, Johnson; Bannan, Windass, Ugbo
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Zetterstrom; Wilson, Nelson, Phillips, Elder; Goudmijn, Adams; Jackson, Harness, Mendez-Laing; Yates
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Derby County
Seeing in the New Year in front of their passionate Hillsborough faithful, Sheffield Wednesday should be confident of putting Derby to the sword during this encounter.
The Rams have been notoriously poor on their Championship travels since returning to the division in August, and we feel that narrative will continue into 2025.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
