Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton Wanderers: EFL Cup preview, TV channel, team news and prediction
Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton Wanderers get their competitive seasons going a week before their leagues do, and they do it against each other for the second August running. Kick-off at Hillsborough is 3pm on Saturday 8 August, and this is the first competitive match of the Arise Capital Partners era in S6.
Kick-off time and venue
- Fixture: Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers
- Competition: EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) first round
- Date: Saturday 8 August 2026
- Kick-off: 3pm BST
- Venue: Hillsborough, Sheffield
- Referee: Elliot Bell
One thing worth knowing before you call the score: there is no extra time in the first round. If the sides are level after 90 minutes it goes straight to penalties, which is exactly how this fixture was settled last season.
What TV channel is Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers on?
The tie is on Sky Sports+ at 3pm. Sky Sports+ is the alternative-stream service that replaced the old red button setup, so if you have a Sky Sports subscription you get it at no extra cost, either through the red button on Sky or by picking the game in the Sky Sports app or on NOW.
Almost the whole first round is being handled the same way. Twenty of Saturday's ties kick off at 3pm and all of them are on Sky Sports+, with only the three 5.30pm games promoted to the main linear channels.
Sheffield Wednesday team news
This is the interesting one. Wednesday were relegated from the Championship last season, were taken over by Arise Capital Partners in May, and have spent the summer rebuilding rather than tinkering: thirteen new signings have come through the door under chairman David Storch.
Henrik Pedersen's problem on Saturday is not availability, it is choosing. Debuts are on the table for a long list of arrivals including Ricardo Santos, Billy Mitchell, Harry Gray and Mason Burstow, while Barry Bannan makes what is effectively a second Wednesday debut after returning to the club. Sil Swinkels has arrived at the back and Liam Cooper signed a new deal, which leaves Pedersen with eight natural centre-backs and a genuine decision about shape.
Mitchell is expected to sit at the base of the midfield. For a squad this new, a cup tie a week before the League One opener is close to ideal: competitive minutes with something at stake, and no league points on the line if the combinations do not click straight away.
Bolton Wanderers team news
Bolton go into this a division above their hosts. They went up from League One last season and start their Championship campaign at home to Preston North End next Saturday, so Steven Schumacher's side arrive at Hillsborough as the higher-ranked club for once.
The news out of Bolton is quiet in the best way. Schumacher has confirmed no fresh injury concerns and described a pre-season without any major problems. Wanderers wrapped up their preparation with a 1-0 home win over NAC Breda, Ruben Rodrigues scoring the only goal, after a behind-closed-doors run-out against Everton's under-21s to top up match minutes.
Schumacher has been open about wanting the test:
It's a really good game for us because we want to test ourselves against a team who will be a really good team.
Head-to-head: they did this last year too
These two met in this same competition twelve months ago, at Bolton's Toughsheet Community Stadium, and produced the best game of the round: 3-3 after 90 minutes, with Wednesday going through on penalties.
That result is the reason the pre-match noise around this one is louder than a first-round tie usually warrants. It also tells you something useful for predicting it: two sides who were happy to go end to end in exactly this fixture, at exactly this point in the calendar, with exactly these two managers in charge.
Form and what is at stake
Neither club needs this for its season, and both want it. Wednesday get the first competitive night of a new era in front of their own crowd, which matters more than a first-round tie normally would after the summer they have had. Bolton get a proper away test against a big club a week before the Championship starts, which is worth more than another friendly.
The gap on paper is one division. The gap in continuity runs the other way: Bolton have kept a settled squad and a manager into his second full pre-season, while Wednesday are fielding a team that has barely played together.
Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers prediction
Home crowd, new signings and a point to prove against a squad that knows itself. That normally means an open game rather than a comfortable one, and this fixture has form for it.
We are calling Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Bolton Wanderers, with the caveat that a 1-1 and another shootout would surprise nobody who watched last year's tie. If you want the safer angle, the goals market looks a better bet than the result: both teams scored three each the last time these two met in this round.
Call it yourself, for free
You do not have to take our word for any of it. Make your own prediction on Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers and you can call the exact score, the first goalscorer, the next team to score and the half-time result, live, while the game is going on.
CalledItMate is free, there is no bookmaker and there is nothing to stake. You predict, you score points, and the top three on the monthly leaderboard win real cash. Every EFL Cup tie this weekend is live on the site, so if you fancy a few of the 3pm games you can take your pick from Saturday's fixtures.