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Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa to both score at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa to both score at Hillsborough
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Another Championship manager faces a former club on Saturday afternoon when Steve Bruce’s Sheffield Wednesday take on his old club Aston Villa at Hillsborough with a precious three points at stake for both clubs.

Sheffield Wednesday have been transformed after the arrival of manager Steve Bruce who has had success at this level with Sheffield United, Hull City and Birmingham City to name but a few, as well as guiding Aston Villa to last season’s Championship Play-Off final where the west midlands club were within 90 minutes of a place in the Premier League.

Football is harsh though and Villa were well beaten by Fulham, but Sheffield Wednesday are now benefitting from Bruce’s expertise as The Owls have put together a solid 12-match unbeaten run in the second tier under his watch.

Recent wins against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers have helped maintain Wednesday’s outside claims for a top six finish and with just four points separating these two teams on Saturday, this match could be pivotal in deciding the play-off pack.

Forwards Fletcher (10 goals) and Joao (9 goals) look the most likely for Sheffield Wednesday in this one.

Aston Villa themselves are on an impressive roll of form as the west midlands club have picked up five wins on the trot as they are heading home with a wet sail and look the team to beat in the Championship at the moment.

Dean Smith’s side have been stuttering and lurching all season, showing glimpses of their potential without really putting together any meaningful winning run - until now. Recent wins over Derby County, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers have lifted The Villains into 6th place and they’ll be desperate to hang onto this last remaining play-off spot.

The visitors seem to be at least heading in the right direction under former Brentford boss Dean Smith, and this is is no small part due to the influential influence of midfielders Grealish and McGinn who have really come to the fore in recent weeks and have run the show in the middle of the park.

Striker Abraham (22 goals) continues to bang them in up front, but the creativity of Grealish and McGinn shouldn’t be underestimated, and they look set to hit the back of the net again this Saturday against their former boss, Steve Bruce and his Sheffield Wednesday outfit.

Both teams to score here looks extremely likely.

Championship Regular Season
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Leicester City 94 44 30 4 10 47
2
Leeds United 90 44 27 9 8 43
3
Ipswich Town 89 43 26 11 6 32
4
Southampton 84 44 25 9 10 24
5
West Bromwich 72 44 20 12 12 23
6
Norwich City 72 44 21 9 14 16
7
Hull City 69 44 19 12 13 9
8
Coventry City 63 43 17 12 14 13
9
Middlesbrough 63 44 18 9 17 4
10
Preston North End 63 44 18 9 17 -5
11
Cardiff City 62 44 19 5 20 -11
12
Bristol City 59 44 16 11 17 4
13
Sunderland 56 44 16 8 20 1
14
Swansea City 56 44 15 11 18 -5
15
Watford 53 44 12 17 15 1
16
Millwall 53 44 14 11 19 -12
17
Stoke City 50 44 13 11 20 -16
18
QPR 50 44 13 11 20 -16
19
Blackburn Rovers 49 44 13 10 21 -16
20
Plymouth Argyle 48 44 12 12 20 -11
21
Sheffield Wednesday 47 44 13 8 23 -29
22
Birmingham City 46 44 12 10 22 -16
23
Huddersfield 44 44 9 17 18 -27
24
Rotherham 24 44 4 12 28 -53

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