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Sheffield United 0 Birmingham City 0: August rust on show in stodgy stalemate at Bramall Lane The story of Sheffield United’s 2026/27 Championship season opener against Birmingham City Sheffield United kicked off their Championship campaign in unremarkable fashion as they shared the spoils with Birmingham City. In a stodgy stalemate, free-flowing football was in short supply and few were surprised to see it end goalless. The majority of chances stemmed from deliveries into the box and it was the defences who came out on top in the South Yorkshire sunshine. Sheffield United did find their attacking flow in the dying embers, although it was a case of too little, too late. First half Sheffield United assumed control early on, seeking to get new loan recruit Romelle Donovan on the ball and goung up against his boyhood club’s backline. He linked up well with Femi Seriki down the right flank, helping to test the Blues with some early deliveries into the box. Birmingham stopped Sheffield United building up a head of steam, winning a flurry of corners to stem the Blades flow, but failed to convert any into goalscoring opportunities. Flowing moves from open play were in short supply for the bulk of the first half, as both sides showed rust that is hardly uncommon in August. Birmingham looked to make use of their frontman August Priske’s physicality, only to see Japhet Tanganga head the majority of their long-throws and crosses clear. At the other end, a seemingly innocous cross from Seriki took a deflection and was hung up invitingly in the air for Patrick Bamford. The experienced marksman sent an acrobatic effort goalwards and there were sharp intakes of breath as it narrowly missed the post and hit the side-netting. Birmingham responded by creating their best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes, as Alex Cochrane swung a teasing cross in from the left. It was attacked by Paik Seung-ho, who could not make a clean connection and glanced wide. The Blues ended the first half in the ascendency but rarely did the Blades look to be on the verge of conceding. As the whistle blew on a first half best described as scruffy, fans were left craving some technical innovation. Second half Birmingham emerged from the half-time break looking the brightest, sticking to their game plan and peppering the Blades box with deliveries. The ball fell kindly for Carlos Vicente early in the second half, but the winger’s shot was skewed wide under pressure from a crowd of red and white shirts. Vicente then broke away down the right in acres of space, only for that space to be quickly closed down by Tanganga. Sheffield United’s captain raced across at speed to thwart the Blues wideman with a tremendous sliding tackle. Wilder looked to his bench in search of inspiration, introducing Tahith Chong and Tyrese Campbell in place of fading Donovan and ineffective Cannon. The wind remained firmly behind Birmingham sails and Chong’s first job of the afternoon was to make a last-ditch tackle to thwart Jay Stansfield. It was the latter who picked up the loose ball, but Michael Cooper was equal to his shot on goal. Sheffield United had barely laid a glove on Birmingham since the restart yet came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock with 15 minutes of normal time remaining. Callum O’Hare threaded through to Bamford, who could not sneak his shot past James Beadle at the goalkeeper’s near-post. It was Bamford’s final contribution of the afternoon as he was replaced by Ryan One, marking the 21-year-old’s first league outing since his return from a loan spell at Lincoln City. The Scottish frontman went even closer than Bamford, going through on goal only to be denied by Beadle at close range.