Newcastle v Sunderland – Derby Day match preview

Magpies v Mackems
Magpies v Mackems
There is literally no need for me to waffle on in an attempt to build this one up. It’s big enough as it is.

Tyne-Wear derbies are always hotly contested affairs and I have little doubt that this one will be any different. In fact you could say that this one has some added edge to the game.

Both sides have hardly been pulling up trees domestically this season and both sides languish in the lower half of the table. Admittedly United’s position is slightly better than that of the Mackems but the carrot of three points will be an incentive for both sides who have their own agenda to look after, but they could also have a say on how the rest of the season pans out for the opposition.

A home win and we can pretty much forget about relegation and start tentatively looking forward to next season, all whilst dropping those pesky inbreeds deeper into the brown stuff. An away win would give Sunderland hope and would drag us back into the relegation mix although I don’t wish to contemplate losing this game. A draw is no good to either side really although you could probably say that it would be worse for Sunderland than it would be for us.

Newcastle:

Yoan Gouffran and Mathieu Debuchy are eligible to play after missing out against Benfica. The latter of the two has been injured but could return to action tomorrow.

Another recent absentee who could be available is Cheik Tiote while Steven Taylor should be fine to return to the starting XI after sitting out the draw against Benfica. Hatem Ben Arfa came through his Europa League return unscathed but a lack of football means he will have to make do with a space on the bench. Sylvain Marveaux is also available.

However we are without Ryan Taylor, Haris Vuckic, Davide Santon and Fabricio Coloccini who are all sidelined through injury although the latter of that list should be available for the trip to West Brom next weekend.

Sunderland:

Steven Fletcher and Lee Cattermole are both unavailable for the remainder of the season. Titus Bramble, Daid Vaughan and Connor Wickham are doubts while Danny Graham and Carlos Cuellar will undergo fitness tests ahead of the match to determine their availability. Craig Gardner will miss the game through suspension.

Previously…

The reverse fixture earlier on in the season ended 1-1 with a late own goal from Demba Ba cancelling out Yohan Cabaye’s early opener.

This will be the 148th derby between the two sides. Currently United hold the advantage with 54 wins compared to 44 for Sunderland. The other 47 matches have, as you can guess, ended in a draw.

Stats and facts:

A fifth home league win in a row would be the first time we’ve managed such a feat since the 2003/2004 season.

Sunderland have lost their last four away games and have conceded at least two goals in each of the last six away matches.

Newcastle have kept just five cleans sheets in the Premier league this season. Four of those have come at St James’ Park.

Final thought:

Strap yourself in is my message. It’s going to be another one of those stomach-turning, gut-wrenching derby days. The form book says home win, but the problem with these games is that form goes out of the window and can’t be relied upon.

In an ideal world we’d sweep the Mackems away playing some nice football, but again nice football doesn’t tend to feature too much in derby games as blood and guts come to the fore.

We can do it, undoubtedly, but the pressure is on us to claim the bragging rights in front of our own fans. It’s important the players savour the occasion and relish it, but it’s also vitally important that none of them get carried away with it all and keep a level head, which is something I won’t be able to do!

Howay the lads!

Date: Sunday, 14th April, 2013

Time: 12:00 – Live on Sky

Venue: St James’ Park

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

132 thoughts on “Newcastle v Sunderland – Derby Day match preview

  1. Good preview, A draw wouldn’t be the end of the world for us, though it may well be for them, they need a win way more than us…pity they won’t get it. 😈 I know people say they love the derbies but I fekin hate them, I’d love it just love it if they went down and stayed down. Howay the Lads :mrgreen:

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  2. Just checked the fox sport program guide and the game is on at 7pm my time :mrgreen: – Lounge chair – big screen – wife in other room – kids playing in the traffic & an ice cold Lowenbrau clasped firmly in hand….. bring it on!! :mrgreen:

    3-1 win to the Toon- I has a, gooood feeling about this one

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  3. You are harboring a lot of hate there Richie 😐 Do you want to talk it out with your mate Aussie? :mrgreen:

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  4. Thank you Ellis Short for even more motivation for the lads to put your odious cuntish club back where it crawled from.

    A fascist mussolini loving manager and and a foul mouthed ye hawwing yank now running the show, They just need a drink driver as director of International development, A sponsor that theives african resources and a rapist in defence to get a full house of wearyside bingo.

    Oops beat me to it… 🙄

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  5. If Pardz can freshen the lads up a bit after our mid week game, I think we can deal with Sunderland and come away with a win… I am not sure how much impact Paulo will have on Sunderlands fortunes, he was a good player but that doesn’t mean he will be a good manager. They tried it with Roy Keane and that **** was a waste of space…

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  6. Good read Toonsy and I just hope after our 3pts of them we will have an end to the relegation talk.
    It will make it all the sweeter to know that we pressed the down botton on the SMB’s escalator

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  7. I just want this weekend to be over like with 3 points in the bag. I’m getting so depressed thinking we might actually lose this.

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  8. Nervous, nervous, nervous!!! Nothing a few drinks at 9am tomorrow morning won’t sort…

    In reality they need the win more than us and I think we can control the game and also hit them on the break.

    I go 3-0

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  9. Debating with yourself there Dave, 1st sign of madness that is 🙂 🙂 mind you, it helps to be a little crazy while supporting the Toon 🙂 🙂

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  10. Toonsy writes:
    “Newcastle have kept just five cleans sheets in the Premier league this season. Four of those have come at St James’ Park.”

    Another interesting fact is that four of those clean sheets also came with Willo playing at CB. Until last weekend we hadn’t kept a single clean sheet in the premiership without him in the team. You might think that, after his performance against Benfica, he would deserve to keep his place against the mackems but of course we all know that isn’t likely to happen. As Pards has already told everybody, we’ve only got three decent centre backs at the club and Willo isn’t one of them 🙄

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  11. Reckon we will have the better of the game, but just hope we don’t have one of those wasteful days at the office. Marveaux needs to start imo as Sunderland we look to play purely on the counter and the mercurial Frenchman is our best player when it comes to unlocking sides.

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  12. Errm don’t want to nitpick but “This will be the 148th derby between the two sides. Currently United hold the advantage with 54 wins compared to 44 for Sunderland. The other 47 matches have, as you can guess, ended in a draw.” Maths don’t add up! 😕

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  13. I brought this over from the previous blog just to fuel Richietoons makkem hate gene 🙂

    http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/391504/Grudge-match-Ellis-Short-blasts-Alan-Pardew?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-football-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29

    Wehey….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Here’s the local Old Bill banning makkems travelling to SJP because of the risk of trouble, warning toon fans against protesting against a self confesses facist, whilst all trying to keep a straight face. Laugh, I nearly got the beers in…

    Light the blue touch paper and stand back 🙂

    TTBAWA

    He’s grey, he’s proud, he’s jumping in the crowd, Pardew, Pardew…

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  14. Krul

    Debuchy
    Staylor, Mbwia
    Jonas

    Cabaye
    Soussoko
    Marveaux
    Tiote
    Goofy

    Cisse

    This team will batter 5under1and …….3-1 Toon …

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  15. Im using McDonald’s WiFi in Malaga. Was good to see Benny return and stay healthy. Cant wait for tomorrow HTLs should be a great game. 🙂

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  16. Thanks Kimtoon and MM 😀
    Hope we win tomorrow, bragging rights are as important as the 3 points! HTL

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  17. MM…My hate gene doesn’t need fuelling 😉

    I think tomorrow is the 148th derby…just ask Ice, he’s been to most of them 😆

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  18. Ice, you could be right mate. Tiote has been missing for weeks, so will be eager to show himself. Throw in the fact that it is the makkems and he’s probably been on a red meat diet all week could be a disaster waiting to happen.

    Maybe we’ll see Perch in there instead ? ….

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  19. Munich @ 31 Classic (ROTFL) Where’s my Razz man when I need him? I’m crying with laughter, man! Honestly, that’s how Pardew gets me sometimes. I feel like smashing a guitar over his head. That’s how I felt on Thursday when I missed the first few minutes through queueing and then watched us for the rest of the half running the clock down when we needed two goals. I’m still angry now.

    I’ve got to leave the derby at 1.30pm to get to work for 2. Couldn’t get time off. I’m bloody angry about that as well. Gareth, get my guitar.

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  20. B&B@32…well done that man for not taking offence. Well done mate…

    Sounds like your boss is missing something somewhere 🙁 Obviously not from these parts 🙁

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  21. Andymag@33, any formation would batter the makkems this week. Supremely confident mate 😉 …at least at the moment ….

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  22. Is there anybody stupid enough out there to make a half n half scarf? Plus is there anybody stupid enough to buy one

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  23. B&B, my heart bleeds mate 🙂 🙂 at least you will get to see how **** Pardz is for most of the game 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  24. Ice that clip won’t play for me ,but I watched last nights episode and they made a reference to DIC again in that . They showed a photo of Kim Jong Un with his arm outstretched and said it was Dic greeting Sunderland fans :).

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  25. if these results stay as is the league table won’t look good for the mackems in the morning. Even worse when we beat them

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  26. Thank flock we got those three points against Fulham. The worry beads aren’t put away just yet… 😀

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  27. Down to 14th at the moment 😕 , if we win tomorrow though I think we go to 11th 😀 and a win against WBA might put us into the top 10 :mrgreen: , with European football that should be the aim.

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  28. Yup, tonight key match is to watch Saint’s vs Hammers.

    If they do draw, and we win tmr, we will be sitting at 11th. Suddenly,Top 10 isn’t impossible at all. 😆 😆

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  29. it would have been a big point for Chrissy Hughton. Hope he manages to keep Norwich up. A decent fella

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  30. Bertie Bombscare Bassong getting the credit for an own goal. So glad he jumped ship. Got 6 million for him as well. One of the best pieces of transfer business ever

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  31. Don’t think today’s results could of gone any better for us. We batter fucking win tomorrow like.

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  32. Troubling times for the north east…Pools basically relegated, Heed on the slide and close to the relegation zone…Sunderland certain to drop when we batter them tomorrow!

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  33. Toon TRW-good for me, only 20 mins away from Cardiff. Hopefully we do a bit better than our pre season match vs them..

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  34. We might be in UCL qualifying round next season since we got no europa burden next season.. We should aim top 4 and at least go far in carling cup. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

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  35. hopefully hatem will start tomorow. . 😈 .we must destroid them on the 1fst sec. to the add time! !!!!! three point ok but wonderfull three point. class winning 😎 .and we must make big massive diffrence! !!! 😉

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  36. How many lads or lasses will go out tonight with their ticket in their back pocket and do a 24 hour session

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