- 1 Sheffield Wednesday vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: eight goals in three games, and Wolves are flying
- 2 Sheffield Wednesday: a fresh squad, and the treatment room is already busy
- 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Fer Lopez and Armstrong have already found top gear
- 4 Football Prediction Sheffield Wednesday vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 5 First, a word on our free picks
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information moves fast
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Sheffield Wednesday vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: eight goals in three games, and Wolves are flying 
Eight goals in three competitive outings. Wolves have wasted no time shaking off relegation and head to Hillsborough this Tuesday 25 August, kick-off 7.45pm UK time, for the second round of the EFL Cup.
Two divisions now separate the clubs. Sheffield Wednesday are in League One after finishing the 2025-26 season on zero points in the Championship, the result of an 18-point deduction tied to off-field problems and administration.
The Yorkshire club changed ownership this summer and recruited heavily to rebuild a threadbare squad. Henrik Pedersen opened the campaign with a 1-0 win over Bolton in the previous round, then followed it with a 2-1 league victory over Leyton Orient.
That run ended at home last Thursday against Bradford City: 0-1, an Aden Baldwin goal after the break, and nothing back. Hosting a Championship side four days later is hardly ideal scheduling.
At the other end, Cesar Peixoto replaced Rob Edwards this summer with one clear job: get them straight back up. His side brushed aside Port Vale 3-0 in round one, fought out a 2-2 draw at Blackburn, then beat Preston 3-1 on Saturday.
The gap in quality is obvious, but Wolves host Stoke City on Saturday and should rotate. That is exactly the window Sheffield Wednesday need to try to exploit.
The last round saw Sheffield Wednesday dump out Championship side Bolton Wanderers 1-0. The Owls have already shown they can knock over a team from a higher division this season.
Wolves, meanwhile, swept aside fourth-tier Port Vale without ever looking troubled. Tuesday is the first real cup test for both sides.
Sheffield Wednesday: a fresh squad, and the treatment room is already busy 
Two wins and one defeat from three competitive matches: Sheffield Wednesday’s start is fine. It has come against Bolton and Leyton Orient, though, both a different proposition from Tuesday’s opponents.
Jamal Lowe has scored in both wins, netting the only goal against Bolton before scoring alongside Callum Slattery against Orient. The striker is the attacking reference point in a side rebuilt over the last two months.
The Bradford defeat exposed the limits of the rebuild. No goals at Hillsborough, a game they lost control of after the break, and a Wednesday side that had no answer to Aden Baldwin’s strike.
The injury list is not helping Sheffield Wednesday either. Tyler Onyango picked up a knock against Leyton Orient, Jordi Liongola missed the Bradford game, and Di’Shon Bernard and George Brown remain out.
Pedersen is expected to bring Sil Swinkels back into the middle and hand Ricardo Santos a first start after he was only a substitute on Thursday. Mason Burstow, on loan from Hull City, is in line to lead the line.
Barry Bannan is also among those who could be rested in midfield. Giving key men a breather against a Wolves side in full stride is a gamble Sheffield cannot really afford.
That win over Bolton does, at least, give the Owls a useful reference point. A Championship club has already fallen at Hillsborough this season.
The real question is how many starters Sheffield Wednesday will field. Bradford on Thursday, Wolves on Tuesday, then league duty again at the weekend means changes are inevitable.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers: Fer Lopez and Armstrong have already found top gear 
Three matches, eight goals, no defeats. Wolves have started the season like a side with promotion on the mind.
The 3-0 win over Port Vale in round one set the tone, with three goals before the break from Adam Armstrong, Andre and Fer Lopez. Peixoto’s new group needed less than 45 minutes to kill the tie.
The trip to Blackburn was a lot more awkward. After going ahead through Marshall Munetsi, Wolves trailed 2-1 before Raul Jimenez rescued a point with a 93rd-minute penalty.
Saturday at Preston was much cleaner: 3-0 up at the break thanks to a Fer Lopez brace and an Armstrong goal, before Jordan Thompson grabbed a late consolation. The Spaniard now has three goals in two matches.
Peixoto does have absentees to manage. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Rafiki Said are out, while Kieran Trippier, Yerson Mosquera and Ladislav Krejci have been injured since the season began.
Jordan James, loaned from Stade Rennais in August 2026, could make his first start in midfield. Armstrong should lead the attack if Jimenez is given a rest before Stoke’s visit.
Fer Lopez is the man in form right now, scoring in round one and then hitting a double at Preston. He should keep his place despite the expected rotation.
Tommy Doyle is also tipped to start in midfield. Peixoto is still assessing his squad, which opens the door to several changes from Saturday.
Probable Sheffield Wednesday line-up: Lumley ; Palmer, Santos, Swinkels, M. Lowe ; Mitchell, Slattery ; Morrison, Gray, Barry ; Burstow
Probable Wolverhampton Wanderers line-up: Johnstone ; Lima, Bueno, Djiga, Wolfe ; Doyle, Traore ; Lopez, James, Mane ; Armstrong
Football Prediction Sheffield Wednesday vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Our prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers to win
Wolves have scored in all three matches and already have eight goals on the board. Sheffield Wednesday have not scored since their trip to Leyton Orient.
The gap in divisions is matched by a gap in squad depth: even with changes, Peixoto’s XI should still be built around Championship-level players against a League One side assembled in just two months and missing Onyango, Bernard and Brown.
Wolves should get through this one. The pick is a Wolverhampton win in normal time.
Wolves have scored at least three goals in two of their three matches. Sheffield Wednesday, by contrast, conceded the only goal of the game against Bradford four days earlier.
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