Gary Neville delivers Sheff Utd v Sunderland Championship play-off final verdict Blades fans will love
Sheffield United will face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium this afternoon.
There are just hours to go until Sheffield United face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final as the two sides battle for a place in next season’s Premier League.
For the Blades, victory under the famous Wembley arch would mean an immediate return to the top flight after they suffered a demoralising relegation last time out. It would also bring an end to their poor play-off record and would allow lifelong Blades fan Chris Wilder to earn another crack at taking his boyhood club into the top flight of the English game.
Sunderland’s absence from the Premier League has been more prolonged as they have not competed in the top flight since 2017 and endured a painfully long stay in League One after suffering successive relegations. There has been little to choose between the two sides in their meetings during the regular season after the Blades claimed a narrow home win in November before suffering a 2-1 defeat in the North East on New Years Day.
Many pundits are predicting a similarly tight affair on the hallowed Wembley turf - but former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has given a definitive answer on which side he believes will come out on top.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, the former England right-back said: “We’re probably going to go Sheffield United, even though I’d like to see Sunderland in the Premier League, but I think Sheffield United probably just have got a bit too much. Yeah, we’ll go two one Sheffield United.”
“The teams that come up have to make a better effort”
Neville’s former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane issued a stern warning to the victors in this afternoon’s Wembley clash as they prepare for life back in the Premier League.
Just 12 months have passed since Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town were celebrating securing a place amongst the elite of English football - but all three suffered dismal campaigns and will take their place back in the Championship when the new season gets underway in August.
Keane bemoaned all three clubs for ‘overplaying’ throughout the season and believes United or Sunderland will have to be ‘harder to beat’ if they emerge victorious in the play-off final this afternoon.
He said: “The teams that come up have to make a better effort. I know, of course, it’s going to be hard to stay up. I was there with Sunderland — of course, it’s going to be hard. I think a lot of them are overplaying. Southampton, certainly, at the start of the season, were caught out. You can be harder to beat! Be harder to beat!”
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