Sunderland vs Newcastle: Big Bet Preview

Credit: 4kclips / Shutterstock.com

Sunderland vs Newcastle United
(Sun 14 Dec, 2pm UK - Sky Sports+)

The Tyne-Wear Derby! Or is it the Wear-Tyne Derby? To stay out of trouble, we’ll just call it this weeks’ Big Bet! Sunderland are back in the big time and flying high, sitting a point above their Saudi-owned neighbours, but who will come out on top as the two sides face off this weekend?

Click here to download Tipple and start playing

Champions League places, title charges, relegation battles - sure, they’re all important, but nothing in football quite beats the glory of holding the bragging rights over your fiercest rivals. And they don’t get much fiercer than Sunderland and Newcastle. They’ve spent some time apart as Sunderland slipped down the leagues and had chance to reflect, and they’ve both come to the realisation that they still really hate each other. It doesn’t get better.

Contrary to pre-season expectations, this game might actually mean something in the context of the battle for Europe too! Sunderland have performed well over-odds and currently sit just three points from fourth, while Newcastle seem to have overcome their sluggish start and are back in the race to return to the Champions League again next season. With so much on the line, expect fireworks in this weeks’ Big Bet!

Form

Newcastle stuttered a bit at the start of the season as they re-adjusted to playing in Europe and shook off the hangover from the Isak drama that raged on all summer, but they’ve been much better as of late. They’ve picked up three wins and lost just once in their last five league games, including an impressive victory over Manchester City and a 4-1 away thrashing of Everton. The win on Merseyside is their only away win in seven attempts so far this Premier League season, however, they’ll hope it’s the start of a trend and not an outlier.

Newcastle also have a midweek Champions League game in Leverkusen to contend with while the Sunderland players rest up and prepare for Sunday’s big game.

Sunderland have suffered a little dip in form after their blistering start, winning just once in their last six. That being said, they have drawn three of those and only lost two, one of the losses coming at the hands of Manchester City and two of the draws against Liverpool and Arsenal in this time. I doubt Sunderland fans will be overly worried about their form with the difficulty of their run-in. The crucial stat is that they are yet to lose at home. The Stadium of Light has been a fortress since their return to the top-flight, with 4 wins and 3 draws in 7 games they have one of the best home records in the division and are the only other unbeaten home side alongside leaders Arsenal. It’ll be a tough ask for their rivals to break the home streak, but nobody will be more motivated to do so than them.

Head-to-head

The Black Cats are back in the big time - marking the return of this fixture for the first time in the league since 2016!

There was an FA Cup fixture between the two in January of 2024, which Newcastle handily won 3-0, but there was a clear gulf in quality between the Championship side and their Champions League rivals. That gulf has now closed, and with just one point between them it really is anyone’s game.

As far as league games go, as I’m sure the Sunderland fans are well aware, it’s been a rough time in recent memory for the Toon Army.

In their last 10 league meetings, Newcastle have won just once, and that was 10 games ago. In the proceeding 9 matchups, Sunderland have won 6 and there have been 3 draws.

History certainly favours Sunderland, and Black Cats have proven to be unlucky for Newcastle. Can Eddie Howe’s men break the curse after 9 years without a league meeting between the two northern giants?

Key Battle

Granit Xhaka vs Bruno Guimaraes

Even this far into his tenure as a Sunderland player, I’m still double checking as I write this to make 100% sure I didn’t dream that Granit Xhaka signed for Sunderland over the summer. It was a massive statement of intent from the club, and a big gamble for the Swiss midfielder as he banked his reputation on the Sunderland project. For all parties, it has worked out better than we could have imagined.

Xhaka is a force in the midfield, everything runs through him for Sunderland and he has hardly put a foot wrong since his debut. The tendency to see him as a rough-and-ready defensive enforcer is harsh, I think, he has many more strings to his bow than just kicking the ball and people incredibly hard. He is a creative threat, as evidenced by his 4 assists already this term, he can pop up with a goal and also break the play up to allow Sunderland to fly up the pitch on one of their trademark devastating counter attacks. He is the engine in their well-oiled machine, and it will take a serious player to stop him.

Newcastle, fortunately for them, are flush with midfield talent of their own. Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and even young Lewis Miley have all been fantastic in spells this season and bring something different to that energetic Newcastle midfield, but the pick of the bunch for me has always been Bruno Guimaraes.

Bruno, like Xhaka, makes his side tick. As crucial as they both are, they both operate in very different ways and seeing how they counteract one another and try to deal with the challenges they each pose will be extremely interesting. The game could be won and lost in the middle of the park between these two.

Bruno is more of an out-and-out goalscoring threat, he has hit 5 in the league already, but is also plenty capable of creating chances for his teammates. He tends to push high to win the ball in the final third and get his team on the front-foot and has also been one of the most accomplished long-passers in the league this season.

The direct tenacity of Bruno vs the more measured control of Xhaka. Who can come out on top in the biggest battle of the weekend?

Preview

One of English football’s fiercest rivalries finally renewed on the big stage. Both teams have very different looks than the last time they both met at this level, will it be Regis Le Bris’ odds-defying Black Cats or the Toon Army fronted by Eddie Howe that control the North East on Sunday?

Everything’s at stake and there’s nowhere to hide in the Big Bet.

Tipple Difficulty Rating: 9/10