Sheffield United vs Birmingham City

Sheffield United’s return to the Championship after two straight Premier League campaigns pits them against Birmingham City at Bramall Lane in their 2021/22 curtain-raiser.

The 17-game winless start to begin the 202021 Premier League season eventually came back to haunt Sheffield United, resulting in a dismal relegation to the Championship. Yet, the recent history says otherwise, as the ‘Blades’ have managed a single win in their last six opening Championship fixtures (D3, L2). The Yorkshire side will be hoping for a better start this time out, with new boss Slavisa Jokanovic looking to repay the club’s faith for making him the first overseas boss ever. Jokanovic, who previously coached Watford and Fulham in the Championship, boasts a solid 49.7%-win ratio in the second tier, having won 77 of his 155 such managerial fixtures. Jokanovic’s first task will be to bring Sheffield’s three-game winless streak in competitive home H2Hs (D2, L1), a run that saw the hosts draw a blank twice.

As for Birmingham, they can hardly go worse than last season, where they managed a win-rate of just 28.26%, coupled with the league’s second-lowest average of 0.8 goals scored per match. Yet, there were some positives down the final stretch of 202021. Despite a dismal average of 0.82 goals scored per away Championship game last term, the ‘Blues’ rounded off the season with back-to-back trips in which they netted 2+ goals. With that said, Lee Bowyer’s men flopped during the off-season, going winless in four straight warm-up fixtures (D1, L3) following a 3-0 win over lower-league outfit Cheltenham in their first pre-season contest. But a run of four consecutive Championship H2Hs without losing (W1, D3) could whittle down the tension within the traveling camp.