Sheffield United will kick themselves if they fail in Championship play-off final as frustrating statistic emerges

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Sunderland are all that stand in Sheffield United’s way when it comes to securing promotion in the Championship play-off final, but the truth is, the Blades should have held onto their place in the top two this season.

After suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, Sheffield United were always going to be one of the stronger teams in the Championship this year.

Even with a two-point deduction, the Blades were firmly part of the three-horse title race throughout the 2024/25 campaign.

That is, until Chris Wilder’s men endured a run of three straight defeats to Oxford, Millwall, and Plymouth which saw them drop out of contention, before losing to Burnley and thus condemning themselves to the Championship play-offs.

Now, United and Sunderland go head-to-head on Saturday in the pursuit of promotion, but based on statistics, Wilder may well feel aggrieved that his side didn’t go up automatically.

• READ MORE: How the 10 most recent Championship play-off winners have fared following promotion to the Premier League

Sheffield United spent a very long time in the top two

It turns out, over the course of this Championship season, only champions Leeds United spent more time in the automatic promotion spots than Sheffield United.

The Whites were deserving winners of the Championship title, not only thanks to their incredible goalscoring record in the second tier, but also for their consistency. Daniel Farke’s men were in the top two for 156 days in total.

Behind them, the Blades spent 143 days in the top two places and looked destined for automatic promotion for much of the campaign.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	46	29	13	4	95	30	65	100
2	BurnleyBurnley	46	28	16	2	69	16	53	100
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	46	28	8	10	63	36	27	90
4	SunderlandSunderland	46	21	13	12	58	44	14	76
5	CoventryCoventry	46	20	9	17	64	58	6	69
6	Bristol CityBristol City	46	17	17	12	59	55	4	68

Incredibly, they spent 55 days longer in the top two spots than Burnley, who eventually leapfrogged them and took that second automatic promotion berth.

Obviously, the table doesn’t lie, and if Sheffield United truly deserved to go up automatically, they would have. In the end, the Blades were way off Burnley and Leeds, with a ten-point gap between them.

• READ MORE: Sunderland and Sheffield United fans have decided there’s one overwhelming favourite for Championship play-off final

History is against Sheffield United, but Chris Wilder can change that

Sheffield United’s play-off record is, frankly, awful. They have had eight shots at promotion via this route, and failed every time. Plus, they also got relegated through the play-offs once, back in the early days of the format.

Even more concerning is the fact United have never even scored at Wembley in a play-off final. They will have to change that if they are to get past Sunderland on Saturday.

Thankfully, there are some good omens for the Blades to lean on. Chris Wilder has never lost a play-off match personally, and could well be the key to fixing United’s terrible record.

Third-placed teams do historically succeed the most in this competition, but Wilder and United will be taking nothing for granted this weekend.