Preview: Newcastle United vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

The county of Tyne and Wear stands still at 12pm on Sunday, when Newcastle United and Sunderland contest a colossal Tyne-Wear derby in the Premier League.

The Magpies return home with their tails tucked between their legs after the events of midweek, but the Black Cats have struggled to curse those who have crossed their path in recent times too.

Match preview

Successive Premier League victories for Newcastle have been a rarity during a turbulent 2025-26 season; only on three occasions have the Magpies managed to pull it off, but one of those instances came in the hosts' last two top-flight games.

Beating Manchester United and Chelsea in consecutive gameweeks would have been a pipe dream for Newcastle fans several years ago, but Eddie Howe masterminded a 2-1 triumph over the Red Devils before seeing off the Blues 1-0 after the pre-match huddle debacle.

The hosts' standout domestic triumphs lifted them into the top half of the Premier League rankings, and Newcastle now endeavour to match their best winning run from the current campaign in the top flight alone, having won three in a row against Burnley, Crystal Palace and Leeds United from December to January.

However, the team in black and white were beaten black and blue by Barcelona in the Champions League in midweek, suffering a 7-2 humiliation against Hansi Flick's merciless men at Camp Nou as their continental campaign ended in the last 16.

Only once before had an English team conceded 6+ goals in a Champions League match - Tottenham Hotspur against Bayern Munich in 2019 - but Anthony Elanga's double on the night at least extended Newcastle's scoring run to a stellar 15 matches in all competitions.

On the other side of the attacking coin, Regis Le Bris's Sunderland have seen their early-season European hopes fade away in recent times, thanks to a pair of scoreless contests in the FA Cup and Premier League.

The Black Cats' hopes of Wembley stardom - for the second time in two seasons - were extinguished in a humbling 1-0 FA Cup loss at Port Vale, before the newly-promoted outfit succumbed to a top-flight loss to Brighton & Hove Albion by the same scoreline.

Nevertheless, despite entering the next gameweek in an unlucky 13th place in the Premier League table, Sunderland are still just five points adrift of seventh-placed Brentford, so continental sojourns in 2026-27 are not entirely out of the question.

The visitors may only have one win from their last six Premier League games to shout about, but that triumph came on their most recent away day at Leeds United, and Sunderland could now win successive top-flight away games with two clean sheets for the first time in the 21st century.

The Stadium of Light faithful also possess the fondest of memories from December's 1-0 home win over the Magpies, who are now without a victory in 10 straight Tyne-Wear league derbies; never before have either Newcastle or Sunderland gone unbeaten in 11 consecutive games against one another.

Newcastle United Premier League form:

Newcastle United form (all competitions):

Sunderland Premier League form:

Sunderland form (all competitions):

Team News

Injury was added to insult for Newcastle in their loss to Barcelona, as key midfield fulcrum Sandro Tonali came off early in the second half with a groin issue, although his issue is not believed to be serious; Howe was non-committal in his press conference either way.

The Newcastle manager had already ruled fellow lynchpin Lewis Miley out of the Tyne-Wear derby before the trip to Catalonia, while Emil Krafth (knee), Fabian Schar (ankle) and Bruno Guimaraes (thigh) will not return this side of the international break.

After becoming just the second Premier League player to score a Champions League brace away to Barcelona - after Dwight Yorke in 1998 - Elanga has surely done enough to hold his spot, but Sven Botman and Tino Livramento should be introduced in a defensive reshuffle.

Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Le Bris kept his cards fairly close to his chest team-news wise in his press conference, apart from confirming that left-back Reinildo Mandava would return from a knee problem.

However, all of Wilson Isidor (unspecified), Dan Ballard (hamstring), Enzo Le Fee (unspecified), Robin Roefs (thigh) and Nordi Mukiele (calf) will seemingly need late fitness tests, while Jocelin Ta Bi (ankle), Nilson Angulo (unspecified), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Bertrand Traore (knee) are definitely absent.

The visiting manager previously expressed optimism that Le Fee would be fit for the derby, but if not, 18-year-old Chris Rigg - who suffered heartache when his goal last weekend was ruled out - could be primed for a start.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Ramsdale; Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Ramsey, Willock, Joelinton; Elanga, Gordon, Barnes

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Ellborg; Geertruida, O'Nien, Alderete, Reinildo; Diarra, Xhaka, Sadiki; Le Fee, Brobbey, Talbi

We say: Newcastle United 2-1 Sunderland

While Sunderland are suffering from a handful of injury doubts - to key players too - there is an air of uncertainty about Sunday's showdown, but the visitors' recent attacking displays have not been pretty.

Derby day can still bring out the best and worst in both sets of players, but on this occasion, we are backing Newcastle to finally snap their disheartening winless run in the Tyne-Wear affair.

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