Sub-plots intensify Blades and Wrexham's rivalry

Key points

• Sheffield United and Wrexham meet at Bramall Lane on Friday with only two points separating them.
• Wrexham won both Championship meetings last season, including a 5-3 comeback at the Racecourse Ground.
• Kieffer Moore and Callum O'Hare will face their former clubs in the match.

Sheffield United host Wrexham in the Championship at Bramall Lane on Friday night (20:00 GMT), with just two points separating the two sides in the table. The match will see Chris Wilder and Phil Parkinson, former Southampton youth team-mates, face each other again.

The rivalry between the clubs has developed recently. They had not met in 19 years before a 2023 FA Cup fourth-round replay, which Sheffield United won 3-1 after a 3-3 draw. Wrexham have since been promoted three times under Parkinson.

Recent meetings and summer changes

Wrexham won both league meetings last season, coming from 3-1 down to win 5-3 at the Racecourse Ground in December and then winning 2-1 at Bramall Lane in March. Parkinson said the 5-3 game was "probably one of the best games in the Championship" last season.

Both squads changed significantly over the summer. Wilder said he would not take much from last season's losses, noting that Wrexham have invested to strengthen their group.

It's a tasty game. It's not historical over 15, 20 to 25 years, it's a recent one, but it's gathered pace along the way.

— Chris Wilder

Players and managers in focus

Kieffer Moore, who scored six goals in 30 appearances for Sheffield United in 2024-25 before joining Wrexham, scored twice against his former club last season and has five goals this season. Callum O'Hare, who left Bramall Lane for Wrexham in the summer, is set to face the Blades for the first time.

Wilder and Parkinson have exchanged comments. Wilder said he did not agree with Parkinson's assessment of a Wrexham game against Cardiff, while Parkinson described their past meetings as "real ding-dong battles".