Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs Bradford City - prediction, team news, lineups

On the back of winning starts to the League One season at the weekend, Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City will kick off the second round of games when they meet at Hillsborough on Thursday.

The two teams have each won both of their competitive games so far this term, firstly in the EFL Cup first round before raising the curtain on their third-tier campaigns on Saturday.

Match preview

Sheffield Wednesday head into their second League One game of the 2026-27 season and their third in all competitions with the hopes of continuing a perfect start.

They came into the term on the back of a 2025-26 to forget, having dropped out of the Championship on 0 points, facing deductions of 18 and winning just two games amid squad issues, financial troubles and administration.

The end of that season did provide cause for optimism, though, as they finished with a first home win of the campaign on the final day, a day more memorable for the introduction of new ownership and the announcement that no points deductions would carry over to League One.

Then looking forward to a fresh start in the third tier, after a summer in which they made many crucial additions to a thin squad, Henrik Pedersen's side have started with back-to-back wins, firstly beating Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup before visiting Leyton Orient in their league opener at the weekend.

The opener went in off Callum Slattery, and after Joseph Olowu's leveller, Jamal Lowe sealed all three points for the Owls from the penalty spot, with Sheffield Wednesday now aiming to make it three in a row and two in the third tier in their first home match of the term.

That is no easy task, though, as the visitors also arrive on the back of a perfect start to 2026-27 in their bid for League One promotion this season.

Bradford City came into the new term looking to continue their impressive rise under Graham Alexander, having won promotion to England's third tier in 2024-25, before making the playoffs in fourth spot on their return last time around and falling short in the semi-finals against Bolton Wanderers.

Aiming to build on another strong season, the Bantams started in the EFL Cup first round and saw off Rochdale with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Will Swan and Aden Baldwin.

Peterborough United then visited Mbanq Valley Parade in the league curtain-raiser at the weekend, and Alexander's men won by the same scoreline to kick off with three points , as Macaulay Gillesphey opened the scoring early in the second half and Nick Powell doubled the lead 15 minutes from time.

Now on the back of a pair of wins and clean sheets to begin their third full season under Alexander, Bradford City make their first away trip of the season on Thursday with the hopes of another three-point haul as they also look to establish themselves as frontrunners from the outset in League One.

Sheffield Wednesday League One form:

Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions):

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Bradford City League One form:

Bradford City form (all competitions):

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Team News

Henrik Pedersen will field a similar Sheffield Wednesday starting XI from Saturday's win at Leyton Orient, although midfielder Tyler Onyango is a doubt after being forced off in the first half of that game, while Di'Shon Bernard is still out and Billy Mitchell and Ricardo Santos are yet to be fit to earn debuts.

In Onyango's likely absence, Jarvis Thornton may come into the midfield from the outset to join summer signings Jordi Liongola and Barry Bannan, who returned after spending the second half of last season away at Millwall.

Ahead of them, Harry Gray and Callum Slattery supported striker Jamal Lowe at the weekend, and while Mason Burstow will hope to lead the line, Lowe should keep his place having scored in both competitive games to start the season.

Bradford City should also line up similarly to their first league game, with striker Stephen Humphrys the only likely absentee.

There is plenty of competition for attacking spots, though, after Kayden Jackson, Will Swan and Jake Beesley started and were replaced by summer signing Adam Phillips, Bobby Pointon, who netted 10 league goals for the Bantams last season, and Nick Powell, who scored their second goal off the bench.

Elsewhere, fellow new arrival Macaulay Gillesphey will continue in a back three alongside Aden Baldwin and Matthew Pennington after scoring on his league debut, while Callum Connolly should again join mainstay Antoni Sarcevic in the engine room.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Lumley; Palmer, Otegbayo, Swinkels, M Lowe; Liongola, Bannan, Thornton; Slattery, Barry; J Lowe

Bradford City possible starting lineup:

McCracken; Pennington, Baldwin, Gillesphey; Neufville, Sarcevic, Connolly, Touray; Pointon, Beesley, Swan

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Bradford City

Sheffield Wednesday certainly showed encouraging signs in their opening-day win and have plenty of cause for optimism, but they arguably face more ready-made League One challengers this weekend than last weekend and may be happy with a draw to make it four points from their first two league outings with a new squad.

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