Sunderland vs Newcastle United

Stadium of Light forms the backdrop for the latest edition of the long-standing rivalry between Sunderland and Newcaslte United.

Sunderland enjoyed a scintillating start to 2024, scoring two unanswered first-half goals en route to toppling Preston North End 2-0 on home turf. New manager Michael Beale has seemingly overcome a rough start to his tenure, guiding the ‘Black Cats’ to three straight unbeaten matches (W2, D1) following a 3-0 demolition at the hands of Coventry on his touchline debut. Sunderland’s form resurgence bolsters their bid to maintain an eye-catching nien-game unbeaten H2H run against Newcastle (W6, D3), which includes three consecutive wins at home. Extending that streak would see Sunderland set a new club record for the most successive home triumphs against Newcastle. However, that’s easier said than done despite the visiting side’s long-standing injury crisis.

Newcastle’s first Premier League outing of 2024 resulted in a humiliating 4-2 defeat at Liverpool, in which they conceded an alarming 7.2 xG. A disastrous performance at Anfield condemned the ‘Magpies’ to their seventh loss in eight competitive matches (W1), intensifying pressure on manager Eddie Howe. If that’s not enough to derail the spirits among the visiting supporters, Newcastle’s dreadful away form has seen them go winless on their last eight road trips across all competitions (D2, L6 – 90mins only). They also netted under 1.5 goals in seven, casting more doubt on their bid to make it out of the FA Cup round three for the first time in four years. Ominously for Howe, two of those three eliminations came against lower-league opposition.