Sheffield Wednesday vs Wycombe Wanderers preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch

A vital clash at the bottom of the Championship, as Sheffield Wednesday host Wycombe Wanderers at Hillsborough on Tuesday night. Kick off is at 19:00.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Wycombe Wanderers preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch
Photo by Leila Coker/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
connor-thorpe
By Connor Thorpe

It's a relegation six pointer in South Yorkshire as the bottom two go head-to-head in the Championship. Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers will both be looking at this as a must win fixture.

Wednesday have blown hot and cold in recent weeks, but they go into this basement battle seeking a fourth straight home win. Caretaker manager Neil Thompson has overseen an impressive upturn in results, winning four of his six league games since the dramatic sacking of Tony Pulis.

The Owls were impressive in their 2-1 win at Bournemouth last Tuesday, but they followed that up with a second half horror show at Millwall.

Surviving in the second tier was always going to be a tall order for Wycombe, but their task seems to look even harder as the weeks go by.

Whilst their relegation rivals have started to pick up points, Gareth Ainsworth's side have been cut further adrift as they've only won one of their last 16 matches. The Chairboys have only won once on the road all season.

Team news

Owls boss Thompson could be without combative midfielder Massimo Luongo. The Australian international had just recovered from a knee injury, but he tweaked his thigh in training last Thursday and missed the Millwall clash.  

Centre-back Joost Van Aken suffered a similar fate, as he turned his ankle in an under 23s game after just returning from a groin problem. He's likely to miss out.

Right-back Moses Odubajo will miss out with a hamstring injury, and Jack Marriott isn't expected to feature.

Wycombe's injury situation has improved recently, but Ainsworth will be sweating on the fitness of influential left-back Joe Jacobson, who suffered a knee injury in the FA Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Midfielder Dominic Gape has been nursing a leg problem.

The pair have been back in training, but neither of them featured in the 20-man squad in the defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Predicted lineups

Sheffield Wednesday (3-4-1-2)

Westwood, Lees, Dunkley, Hutchinson, Palmer, Shaw, Bannan, Harris, Windass, Paterson, Kachunga.

Wycombe Wanderers (4-3-3)

Allsop, Grimmer, Knight, Tafazolli, Jacobson, Wheeler, Ofoborh, Thompson, Horgan, Onyedinma, Ikpeazu.

Ones to watch

Callum Paterson is on fire for the Owls. Tony Pulis didn't see the Scotsman as a striker during his short stint at Hillsborough, but Paterson has been in red hot form since Thompson moved him back up front. 

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The 26-year-old has struck four times in his last six league matches, and he also bagged a goal in the FA Cup third round. Paterson is an imposing physical presence who makes defenders uncomfortable and gives the Owls a focal point in attack.

Under Thompson, he seems to have mastered the art of arriving into the box at the right time and getting on the end of crosses. His goals are never pretty, but for Wednesday they've been absolutely key to their recent mini-resurgence.

If he is passed fit to play, Joe Jacobson will have a key role for the Chairboys. Although he's a full-back, the 34-year-old is Gareth Ainsworth's chief creator. He's scored twice and contributed four assists this season, and he managed nine goals in Wycombe's promotion campaign.

The former Cardiff City man boasts a wand of a left-foot, and Wednesday will have to ensure that he doesn't get many opportunities to deliver crosses into the box. Jacobson is also deadly from free-kicks and corners.

Incredibly, the Welshman managed to score a hattrick of set-pieces in the 3-1 win over Lincoln last season - one from a free-kick and two directly from corners. The Owls will certainly hope that he isn't in that kind of form on Tuesday.

Previous meetings

Fan unrest against former Owls manager Garry Monk hit tipping point when these sides last locked horns back in October. Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Wycombe left them on minus four points heading into November.

The Owls were deducted 12 points at the start of the season, a sanction which was eventually halved on appeal.

As for Wycombe, David Wheeler's front post header on the stroke of half time secured them their first ever Championship triumph. 

When these two clubs last met at Hillsborough, a crowd of 39,000 roared the Owls onto promotion back to the Championship. Goals from Michail Antonio and Nile Ranger secured a memorable win for the hosts.

How to watch

The encounter will be shown live on iFollow.

Wednesday fans can click here to purchase a pass. Wycombe fans can click here.