With the fight for promotion hotting up in League One, Sheffield Wednesday has found itself amid the battle at the top after a dip in form for the league leaders.
Narrowly missing out on returning to the Championship last season, the Owls have been in sensational form this year, however, have started to trip up on hurdles as of late and find themselves deep in the mix for promotion.
After a run of 23 games unbeaten in the league, which was the longest unbeaten run in both England’s top four tiers and UEFA’S top 10 leagues during the 2022/23 season. Wednesday has now only secured three points in their last five games.
Following a 1-1 draw to Lincoln this weekend which makes it five games without a win for the league leaders, manager Darren Moore was left “absolutely frustrated” with his side.
Despite the recent run of form, the Owls still sit top of the table of goal difference, but with an extra game played over their competitors, pressure will be starting to build upon the team.
Wednesday looked set to win the League One title just a few weeks ago, with FiveThirtyEight’s probabilities giving them a 95% chance of promotion and a 78% chance of winning the league.
Updated League One / League Two Probabilities.
✍️📝 @FiveThirtyEight pic.twitter.com/hR4NUQL3hU
— Ryan Whelan (@RyanJWhelan) March 8, 2023
Fast forward to now, and Plymouth and Ipswich are the two new favourites for automatic promotion to the Championship.
So what has gone wrong for Wednesday these last few weeks which has caused this flip of a switch in results?
The last few performances for Moore’s haven’t been disastrous, but more lacking the efficiency we once saw on their fantastic run. 1-0 wins have now turned into 1-1 draws, due to individual errors that are costing the team points.
Losing Josh Windass who is tied for 1st in the team for goal contributions hasn’t helped, however there’s plenty of talent still in the squad to keep the performances above par.
For the time being, with seven games remaining, this team needs to get its mojo back. Unfortunately, they don’t hold their own fate anymore and they mustn’t get distracted looking over their shoulder at Ipswich and Barnsley closing in on them.
When they looked dominant, everything was easy for them, but now a part or two isn’t clicking. Moore has to get his side back to the well-structured state it was, as with the competition at the top of League One, everyone must be on their ‘A game’.
