NEWCASTLE: As ninth-place Sunderland prepare to host 12th-place Newcastle United in the first Tyne-Wear Derby league fixture in nearly a decade, both sides will be trying to harness the hype in the right manner.
While Newcastle earned a 3-0 win in a third-round FA Cup match in January 2024, the sides haven’t met in Premier League play since the 2015-16 campaign that ended with the Magpies’ relegation.
Newcastle won the League Championship the following season to ensure a quick EPL return, only for the Black Cats to suffer the drop in 2016-17 and remain in the lower tiers until their promotion playoff triumph last spring.
Considered by many to be a relegation favorite, Sunderland (6-4-5, 23 points) instead have exceeded all expectations in their Premier League return.
And although they lost decisively at second-place Manchester City last weekend, they’ve performed well in general against the league’s best. They recorded draws against leader Arsenal, defending champion Liverpool and third- place Aston Villa, and defeated fifth-place Chelsea.
“We came from Bournemouth, Liverpool, Man City,” manager Regis Le Bris said of the Black Cats’ recent schedule. “So we play against the best teams in Europe every weekend. So it wasn’t so different, I think. We are preparing for this fixture properly with the right level of analysis on one side. But on the other side, we want to play our game. And it will be really important.”
Wilson Isidor leads the Black Cats with four goals. And Le Bris’ side has leaned heavily on defense to earn results, teams combining for only 35 goals scored across their 15 league fixtures.
Newcastle (6-5-4, 22 points) is on a four-match league unbeaten run (2-0-2) following a turbulent start to the campaign.
Nick Woltemade and Bruno Guimaraes have five league goals each to fill the scoring void left by Alexander Isak’s deadline day transfer to Liverpool. In his first season in England, the 23-year-old Woltemade is only seven goals shy of his previous best in the German Bundesliga.
Despite a midweek trip to Germany for a 2-2 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in their latest UEFA Champions League fixture, Magpies manager Eddie Howe said the main challenge Sunday will be keeping his players clear-minded rather than energized.
“The arousal levels are absolutely key because you can be too high or too low. I don’t think there will be many too low in preparation for this game but finding that place where the players play at their best is my challenge,” Howe said. “Of course, you don’t want the players to overthink things. It’s a very important game but we’ve got to focus on our performance so all of these things will be important.”