This Easter Sunday sees The Stadium of Light host the 152nd Tyne-Wear Derby, as Newcastle look to end both a 3 match winless run in the league, as well as a 6 match winless run against their local rivals, losing the last 4.
Whilst Newcastle seemingly attempt to conquer opponents wearing sandals and lacking any sort of penetration, John Carver has vowed to make his side work far harder than Sunderland, which hasn’t been the case on the last handful of occasions.
Sunderland meanwhile, got off to an unideal start under new head coach Dick Advocaat, going down to a late goal at Upton Park against an out of sorts West Ham.
Having Advocaat versus Carver in the dugouts this weekend is complete contrast to who we had only four months ago or so. The last time these two sides met, both sides fought out a classic football match, with Newcastle constantly pushing and Sunderland eventually hitting the Magpies with a sucker punch counter at the death, courtesy of Adam Johnson hitting low past Jak Alnwick.
Credit to both sides where due, the home side looked dead on their feet by the end – they had given their all to win that. Effort was never the issue, it was the lack of creativity in the final third with Cabella dropped, and Coloccini constantly leaving space behind himself and opening up his defence for trouble.
Sunderland by contrast had a game plan that worked to a tee. They intended to sit back, soak up the pressure and counter attack. By doing so, they actually had the best chances of the match.
I still maintain a draw would’ve been a fair result and to this day that match haunts me (sitting at the front of the Gallowgate End). Newcastle were robbed, but that’s football sometimes.
The previous three defeats have zero excuses, the teams were gutless and the Black Cats simply wanted to win more. Pardew lacked all kinds of motivational skills that Di Canio and Poyet possessed. Sunderland thoroughly deserved the wins.
Pardew is now old news, so this is the perfect opportunity for the Magpies to start a fresh and huge incentive for John Carver to boost his chances of securing the Head Coach role on a permanent basis.
Team news:
Despite both nearing fitness, both Siem De Jong and Rolando Aarons will miss this fixture through long term injuries. Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cisse are both suspended, whilst Massadio Haidara’s injury seems to have worsened, ruling him out until May.
Mehdi Abeid will return from the squad, whilst no one on international duty picked up any injuries.
Whilst Wes Brown misses out through knee injury for Sunderland. That aside, Dick Advocaat goes into his first home match with a full squad to select from, including Lee Cattermole returning from suspension.
Key clash
Sissoko v Cattermole; Perez v O’Shea; Cabella v van Aanholt; Colback v Johnson – I can’t just pick one, it’s a Tyne-Wear Derby. There’ll be several battles within the war, with more bookings than goals an almost certainty. The side that’ll come out on top will be the ones to keep their cool and let their football speak volumes for their city.
