Wear-Tyne Derby – Match Preview & Prediction
It’s Wear-Tyne Derby day in the Premier League for the first time since 2016, as Sunderland look to keep their unbeaten run of 9 matches against their arch rivals in the league.
The 2 sides met in January last year in the FA Cup, and Newcastle came out 0-3 winners at the Stadium of Light, but this time Sunderland are in a much better position to what they were under Michael Beale at the time.
The Black Cats currently sit 10th in the table, with Newcastle just below them in 12th and just 1 point below.
A win for Newcastle would see them leapfrog Sunderland and move above them for the first time this season.
A win for Sunderland could see them go up as high as 6th, depending on other results.
The last time the 2 sides met in the Premier League was back in March 2016, when Aleksander Mitrovic’s late equaliser put an end to the longest run of victories ever in this fixture.
Between April 2013 and October 2015, Sunderland beat the Magpies 6 times in a row with an aggregate score of 13-1.
The head to head statistics are also extremely close.
Sunderland’s all-tike record against Newcastle is 53 wins, 49 draws and 54 losses, so Sunderland have the chance to level that up.
Yesterday, the news broke that Gary Rowell passed away, a Sunderland legend that is remembered for his hat trick against Newcastle in a 1-4 victory back in 1979.
Haway lads, let’s do it for Gary!
Team News
Tge match is too early for Habib Diarra, but Reinildo and Dennis Cirkin are both fit and return from injury.
Prediction
Sunderland 2-1 Newcastle
Scorers – Enzo Le Fee and Brian Brobbey
