Sheffield Wednesday currently sit in 23rd place pf the Championship table, with six points between them and safety.
Sheffield Wednesday have given themselves a fighting chance of beating the drop this season.
Danny Rohl has overseen a dramatic upturn in form with his side having won three of their last four in the Championship, coming from behind to beat relegation rivals QPR last time out.
There’s several teams fighting against relegation this season with just 10 points between Sheffield Wednesday in 23rd and Plymouth Argyle in 16th, with Rotherham United starting to fall away at the bottom of the table.
Who do Sheffield Wednesday face in January?
Sheffield Wednesday play their final home game of 2023 against Cardiff City this weekend, before finishing the year with trips to Coventry City and Preston North End.
Then in January, Sheffield Wednesday again host Cardiff City, this time in the FA Cup, with league fixtures at Hillsborough against Hull City, Coventry, and Watford, with a trip to Southampton on the agenda too.
Of course, every game in the Championship is a difficult one, but Wednesday’s recent form has shown they they can be very competitive, even against some of the top teams in the league.
Realistically, from their remaining league games this year and their games in January, the Owls might be fortunate to take double figure points from a possible 27.
Home games against the likes of Cardiff, Coventry, and Preston are certainly winnable; Cardiff have lost four of their last five now whilst Coventry sit in 15th, and although Preston sit in 8th, they look like they could be about to plummet down the table after one win in six and four defeats, losing 5-1 at home to Watford last time out.
Hull are currently in 6th and Southampton are in 4th, so wins against either of those teams might be hard to come by; Southampton especially given the fact that they have a strong home record, with 23 points from 11 games at St Mary’s this season.
Watford is an interesting game as well.
Former Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael took charge in the summer and his side have climbed up the table in recent weeks, with the Hornets now in 9th after losing just one of their last five.
So should Sheffield Wednesday be able to pick up big wins against Cardiff, Coventry, and Preston, and take a point off Watford, that would be 10 points on the board.
But where that would land them in the table depends on other teams, too.
Who are Wednesday’s relegation rivals playing?
Rotherham are in store for a tough end to December and January, playing the top two teams Leicester City and Ipswich Town, as well as Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, and Stoke City.
QPR finish their 2023 with games against Southampton, Millwall, and Ipswich, before facing Cardiff City, Watford, Millwall again, and Huddersfield Town in January.
The Terriers face Norwich City, Blackburn, and Middlesbrough in their final games of this year and play Leicester, Plymouth, Blackburn, and QPR in January, with Darren Moore‘s Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday playing at the John Smith’s Stadium on February 3rd.
Millwall and Stoke are right in the thick of it too.
Millwall are level on points with Huddersfield and their games through to the end of January are against Stoke this weekend, in a huge clash for both, then QPR in another big game, Norwich City, Bristol City, Middlesbrough, QPR again, and Preston.
Stoke City under new boss Steven Schumacher face Millwall, Birmingham City, and Watford before New Year, then Ipswich, Rotherham, Birmingham City again, and Sunderland in January.
So there’s some huge games in and around the bottom of the table in January; Rotherham vs Stoke, QPR against Millwall and Huddersfield, and Huddersfield playing Plymouth could be a big one to.
But of the current bottom four, it could be argued that Sheffield Wednesday have the kindest fixture list through the end of December and January, and so there’s certainly a chance that the Owls can lift themselves out of the bottom three by the end of the January transfer window.
The picture could become clearer after this weekend. If Wednesday beat Cardiff and both Huddersfield and QPR lose, then there’s only three points between the Owls and safety. But if Wednesday lose and one or both of QPR and Huddersfield win, then the gap could be back to nine points.
Rohl will be taking matters game by game right now, but with every game and every win, there’s more belief that Wednesday can beat the drop.