Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds: Competitive Yorkshire derby forecast for Friday

• Wednesday riding high under Rohl

• Leeds gettable on their travels

• Derby date could be close and competitive

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Sheffield Wednesday's 6.25/1 fight against Championship relegation continues to gather pace as the Owls overcame fellow basement battlers Plymouth 1-0 at Hillsborough in midweek. Ian Poveda had a goal disallowed for offside after 20 minutes but it was Djeidi Gassama who broke the deadlock on the hour mark, going close to a second soon after.

Wednesday conceded little in the way of clear-cut chances as they recorded a fifth victory in six games. The result keeps the Owls second-from-bottom, though crucially, they are now only inside the relegation zone on goal difference as their resurgence under Danny Rohl has remarkably brought the club to within six points of a top-half position.

Speaking post-match, Rohl said: "I am very proud of my team at the moment. It is outstanding what they are doing. We are finding a balance between playing nice football and making the right steps. We are the hunter, and we have the momentum."

It wasn't all good news for Wednesday, mind. Captain Barry Bannan was forced off with a facial injury and is now rated doubtful for Friday night's fixture with concussion.

Dan James' first-half strike was enough to give promotion-chasing Leeds 1.654/6 top honours over struggling Stoke at Elland Road on Tuesday. It was the Whites' 10^th Championship success in 11, though Daniel Farke's troops had to withstand a spell of second-half pressure to clinch maximum points to cement their position in third, two points off second spot.

Farke was delighted with his team's resilience, saying: "I'm pretty proud. For me, it's our best win in 2024 because everyone expects us to win this home game and sometimes there's a spotlight. In this type of game, to dig in and grind out a result is important to us. These hard-fought wins in the end are what brings you into a top position."

The Leeds chief made three changes from the side that drew at Huddersfield three days prior with Connor Roberts making his full home debut in place of Archie Gray, Sam Byram returned to the starting line-up with James also in the XI in place of Wilfried Gnonto. Jaidon Anthony is expected to be back in the squad for Friday after taking compassionate leave.

Close contest forecast

Sheffield Wednesday were winless in their first 10 Championship games, sitting seven points adrift of safety when Rohl was appointed in mid-October. However, the turnaround under the EFL's youngest manager has been remarkable; the Owls have collected the ninth-most points in the Championship under the 24-year-old's tutorship (W11-D2-L12).

The bulk of that resurgence has occurred at Hillsborough (W7-D2-L3) and few sides stir the senses of the Sheff Wed support more than Yorkshire rivals Leeds, and so another frenzied atmosphere is expected on Friday night as the Owls bid to build on an exceptional W5-D0-L1 recent run that includes four shutouts in their past six league encounters.

Leeds clearly pack an enormous punch, although Farke's charges have shown frailties away from Elland Road with the Whites failing to succeed in half of their 18 away days thus far. That sample includes a surprisingly poor W0-D2-L2 when travelling to bottom-six outfits, whilst only five of Leeds' overall games as guests have been won by a margin of 2+ goals.

With that in-mind, I'm happy to support Sheffield Wednesday +2 Handicap and Under 3.5 Goals at [4/5] via the Bet Builder. We're effectively backing the Owls to win, draw or lose by a solitary strike in a match featuring a maximum of three strikes - we'll profit from the following array of correct scores on Friday night: 0-0, 1-1, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 0-1, 1-2.

Read more Championship previews and tips here.