Joe Wildsmith hasn’t made a league appearance for Sheffield Wednesday since April 2018, but his performance in midweek against Manchester City has sparked debate amongst the Owls fanbase that he should start when they take on Brentford this weekend. The 24-year-old made a succession of good saves to keep out City’s rampant attack, who could have easily scored more than just one.
Joe Wildsmith Could Dislodge Cameron Dawson
Excellent Joe Wildsmith Kept Manchester City at Bay
Wildsmith has proven himself to be a capable keeper when he has played for the Owls. His performances in the 2017/18 season were decent. During that campaign, he made 26 league appearances as Kieren Westwood struggled with injury. Most notably, he won man of the match in the Sheffield derby stalemate at Bramall Lane that season.
On Wednesday night, Wildsmith made eight saves against City, with all of those shots coming from inside the six-yard box.
Not only did Wildsmith impress against City, but Dawson has endured a difficult run of form himself. He’s made mistakes in recent games against Derby, Barnsley and Wigan. Perhaps a spell out of the spotlight could be beneficial for him.
Alex Hunt Deserves a Start
Another positive to take from Wednesday’s solid display against the FA Cup was Alex Hunt’s cameo. The 19-year-old came off the bench and made a couple of decent tackles, and his low cross was inches away from finding Steven Fletcher at the back post in what was Wednesday’s most dangerous moment of the match.
Who should Hunt replace for the Brentford clash? Joey Pelupessy. The Dutchman leaves you wondering what he brings to this Wednesday team after a string of below-par performances. He failed to influence the FA Cup tie at all, having just 13 touches of the ball. That’s the lowest of any Wednesday player who started. He only attempted one tackle, made no interceptions and completed a meagre seven passes.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Owls have given the lowest amount of playing time to players aged under 23 in the entire Football League. Garry Monk is desperate to inject some youthfulness into his side – and surely giving Hunt a chance is a good starting point.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Injury List is Mounting
Despite Pelupessy’s recent performances, he may start alongside Hunt and Bannan on Saturday due to Wednesday’s injury concerns. Kieran Lee hobbled off against City with a groin injury and was replaced by Hunt. He’ll miss the weekend’s game.
Fellow midfielder Massimo Luongo has been absent since 18th January. The Australian returned to training at the start of the week, but this clash could come too soon for him.
In defence, Moses Odubajo also returned to training – a few days before Luongo but the visit to Griffin Park may come too soon for him. Monk is hoping that Julian Borner will be fit to take on the Bees. The centre-back was forced off at half time against City due to injury.
Brentford’s Form is Poor – but Can the BMW Be Stopped?
Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo, and Ollie Watkins are one of the deadliest attacking trios in the league. Watkins has hit 22, Mbuemo has scored 13, and after a slow start to the season Benrahma is on ten goals. Wednesday’s top scorers are Steven Fletcher (13), Jacob Murphy (five) and three players tied on three goals.
The Bees are sitting pretty in fifth position, picking up 57 points from 36 games. A few games ago they did look well placed to gatecrash the automatic promotion party, but a run of four draws and one defeat from their last five games has seen them fall 11 points behind second-placed Leeds.
Prediction
Although Brentford have been failing to hit their high standards recently, Wednesday’s form has been disastrous. The Owls have picked up just nine points from their last 13 outings, and it’s difficult to see anything other than a Bees victory this weekend.
Brentford 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
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