Pre-match reading
Includes why the Premier League clubs might favour Sheffield United and exclusive on Jobe Bellingham - looking to escape the brother of Jude tag and carve his own path.
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Sheffield Utd vs Sunderland LIVE SCORE: Championship play-off final updates as Blades face Black Cats for spot in Prem
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Why does the match kick-off at 15:01 BST?
Today's game, which is part of the British Heart Foundation's Every Minute Matters campaign, begins at 15:01 BST, much as the two other play-off finals this bank holiday weekend.
It seeks to motivate individuals to acquire life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques in case of a cardiac arrest.
Two years ago, Luton's captain, Tom Lockyer, passed out eight minutes into his team's Championship play-off final matchup with Coventry.
"I'm lucky to be alive today, but the reality is that less than one in 10 people usually survive, which is why it's vital we continue to raise awareness," stated Lockyer, who is now an ambassador for the charity.
"The symbolic kick-off times are the perfect way to make our life-saving message impossible to ignore."
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Sheffield United vs Sunderland line-ups
Here are your line-ups...
Sheffield United XI: Cooper, Brewster, Hamer, Moore, Burrows, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Souza, Campbell, Choudhury, Peck.
Subs: A. Davies, McCallum, Holding, O'Hare, Brereton Diaz, T. Davies, Cannon, Brooks, Seriki.
Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, Ballard, O’Nien, Cirkin, Neil, Jobe, Le Fee, Mundle, Rigg, Mayenda.
Subs: Moore, Browne, Roberts, Isidor, Abdul Samed, Mepham, Hjelde, Watson, Jones.
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Day of destiny
Afternoon and welcome to the SunSport’s live blog of the Championship play-off final, aka the most expensive game in football.
The incentives, as always, couldn’t be higher for our set of teams.
For Sheffield United, prodigal son Chris Wilder's second spell at the club has been geared to replicate what made him folklore in his first. The Blades, who were victims of the cut-throat two-team automatic promotion, have been thrust into the playoffs with the aim of overcoming post-season hoodoo – never winning at this stage.
As for underdogs Sunderland, the debut season for manager Régis Le Bris couldn’t have been constructed more smoothly. The Frenchmen arrived from Ligue 1-relegated Lorient with promise and precariousness but has delivered in the latter – guiding a youthful side to their first chance of regaining top-flight status since their relegation in 2017.
This is not a game that promises goals, but it makes up for it in a bucket load of tense drama.
