The Championship play-offs get underway on Thursday night with Bristol City hosting Sheffield United at Ashton Gate for the first leg of their semi final clash.
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Sheffield United make the trip down to Bristol for Thursday night’s first leg of their Championship play-off semi final as the favourites to secure promotion to the Premier League, having finished third in the final table in their season back down in the second tier, 22 points clear of their opposition.
Chris Wilder’s side were firmly in the hunt for the automatic promotion places for almost the entirety of the Championship season, even with the two point deduction they were handed at the start of the season.
The Blades were even top of the Championship table at the start of last month with only seven matches remaining in the season, but four defeats and just two wins in those final set of fixtures saw them have to settle for a third place finish and a spot in the play-offs.
The Yorkshire side finished the Championship campaign with the second best record away from home in the second tier, but head to the West Country having lost three of their last four matches on the road.
The Blades have had poor luck in their previous play-off campaigns, having not won promotion from any of their nine previous attempts, reaching the final on four occasions but still yet to go up. Their most recent attempt came three years ago when they lost out to Nottingham Forest in the semi finals.
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Bristol City managed to sneak into the play-offs on the final day of the Championship season despite being held to a 2-2 draw against a Preston side who started the day with the possibility of suffering relegation to League One.
Liam Manning’s side head into the play-offs out of form having won only one of their last five matches and ending the campaign winless from their last three outings.
The Robins do have an impressive home record though, having picked up the fourth most points in the second tier from matches in front of their home fans, and head into the play-offs unbeaten in their last eight games at Ashton Gate, winning six of those, including four of their last five.
This season has been the West Country side’s highest league finish in 17 years since they reached the final of these play-offs back in 2008 before losing out to Hull in the final.
Bristol City are another side that have never been able to secure promotion via the play-offs, reaching three finals in their five attempts.
Sheffield United collected four points from their two league meetings against Bristol City this season, who haven’t beaten the Blades in any of their last seven meetings, losing five of those.
How to watch Bristol City v Sheffield United
- Location: Ashton Gate, Bristol
- Date and time: Thursday 8th May 2025, 8pm
- How to watch: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Ultra HDR
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