{"id":85596,"date":"2025-05-08T21:10:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/85596\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T21:10:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:10:23","slug":"bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-live-commentary-premier-league-hopefuls-kick-off-championship-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/85596\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol City vs Sheffield United LIVE commentary: Premier League hopefuls kick-off Championship playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bristol City and Sheffield United will look to move one step closer to the Premier League when they meet tonight, live on talkSPORT.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The clash of the two EFL giants kicks off the Championship play-offs, with Ashton Gate hosting for the first of the two-legged semi-final.<\/p>\n

\"Sheffield<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Sheffield United’s defeat at Burnley confined them to the playoffsCredit: Rex Features<\/p>\n

Bristol City<\/a> dramatically secured a top-six finish in the second division on an enthralling final day<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

The Robins fought back from 2-0 down to earn a point at home to Preston, with Blackburn\u2019s draw away to Sheffield United<\/a> cementing their position in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Blades, meanwhile, had long since been assured of their post-season place in their bid to earn an instant Premier League<\/a> return.<\/p>\n

However, Chris Wilder<\/a>‘s side missed out on the two automatic spots in heartbreaking fashion, as both Leeds and Burnley<\/a> finished ahead.<\/p>\n

Sheffield United will now need to dust themselves off and go again to remain on track for a return to English football\u2019s top-flight.<\/p>\n

Bristol City vs Sheffield United: History beckons<\/p>\n

The Bramall Lane outfit ended the Championship season a whopping 22 points ahead of the Cider Army, but how relevant is that here?<\/p>\n

It turns out that the cliche that the form guide goes out the window during the playoffs is not entirely accurate.<\/p>\n

Instead, since the format started in 1987, teams finishing third are often likely to end up celebrating promotion at Wembley.<\/p>\n

In contrast, clubs that sneak into the playoffs in sixth place usually fare the weakest in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Only on five occasions of the 38 editions of the Championship playoffs has it occurred, and not since Blackpool<\/a> back in 2010.<\/p>\n\nPlayoffs year<\/strong><\/td>\nWinners<\/strong><\/td>\nFinal league position<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2014<\/td>\nQPR<\/td>\n4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2015<\/td>\nNorwich City<\/td>\n3rd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2016<\/td>\nHull City<\/td>\n4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2017<\/td>\nHuddersfield Town<\/td>\n5th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2018<\/td>\nFulham<\/td>\n3rd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019<\/td>\nAston Villa<\/td>\n5th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2020<\/td>\nFulham<\/td>\n4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2021<\/td>\nBrentford<\/td>\n3rd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2022<\/td>\nNottingham Forest<\/td>\n4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2023<\/td>\nLuton Town<\/td>\n3rd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2024<\/td>\nSouthampton<\/td>\n4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"Southampton<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Southampton won last year’s Championship Play-Off FinalCredit: GettyBristol City vs Sheffield United: Team news<\/p>\n

Bristol City XI:<\/strong> O’Leary, Tanner, Dickie, Vyner, Hirakawa, Knight, Williams, McCrorie, Bird, Mehmeti, Wells. <\/p>\n

Subs: <\/strong>Bajic, Roberts, Pring, Earthy, McGuane, Twine, Armstrong, Bell, Cornick. <\/p>\n

Sheffield United XI: <\/strong>Cooper, Choudhury, Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Burrows, Peck, Vincius, Hamer, Brewster, Campbell, Moore. <\/p>\n

Subs: <\/strong>Davies, Gilchrist, Shackleton, Holding, McCallum, O’Hare, Davies, Brooks, Cannon. <\/p>\n

\"Wilder<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Wilder is preparing to lead Sheffield United into the play-offsCredit: GettyBristol City vs Sheffield United: What has been said?<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we\u2019ll show everybody that the team that finishes third doesn’t automatically lose in the play-offs,\u201d Wilder said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat team that hasn’t won a play-off campaign can win one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat team that hasn’t been to Wembley for years can go to Wembley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do things that, in my opinion, that we’ve done from 2016, and create our own little bit of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Robins are into the playoffs for the first time in 17 yearsCredit: GettyBristol City vs Sheffield United: talkSPORT coverage<\/p>\n

This Championship playoff semi-final first leg is set to take place on Thursday, May 8.<\/p>\n

Kick-off at Ashton Gate is set for 8pm, with live and exclusive coverage available on the talkSPORT App.<\/p>\n

Commentary will then come from Ian Danter and former Liverpool<\/a> Women’s striker Courtney Sweetman-Kirk.<\/p>\n

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click\u00a0HERE for the live stream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listen via the\u00a0talkSPORT app here<\/a>, or on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.<\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0talkSPORT BET<\/a>\u00a0for all the latest odds and bet boosts.<\/p>\n

The game will also be screened on Sky Sports’ Main Event and Football channels on TV.<\/p>\n

Bristol City vs Sheffield United: talkSPORT BET Odds<\/strong><\/p>\n

Match odds:<\/p>\n

*odds subject to change 18+ gambleaware.org<\/p>\n

Visit talkSPORT BET for all the latest football betting odds<\/a> and bet boosts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City and Sheffield United will look to move one step closer to the Premier League when they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[18228,41210,41221,41213,41214,41216,41217,41215,41211,41219,41212,41218,41220,748,41222,23712,24457,393,4884,101,1620,4239,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-85596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-bristol-city","9":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united","10":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-championship-playoffs","11":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-commentary","12":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-date","13":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-how-to-follow","14":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-how-to-listen","15":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-kick-off-time","16":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-live","17":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-score","18":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-stream","19":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-talksport-coverage","20":"tag-bristol-city-vs-sheffield-united-updates","21":"tag-britain","22":"tag-championship-playoffs","23":"tag-efl","24":"tag-efl-news","25":"tag-england","26":"tag-great-britain","27":"tag-premier-league","28":"tag-sheffield","29":"tag-sheffield-united","30":"tag-uk","31":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}