Key events
Away we go!
“Here in the Grenadines the game is on in Keegan’s Bar on the island of Bequia – in case anyone is frantically searching,” advises Alun Pugh. “Everyone welcome. Not Mackems obviously.”
Aha, Sky have Multiview, so I’ll have Sunderland v Newcastle and Palace v City on my main screens, and keep up to date with West Ham v Villa and Foresrt v Spurs thataway.
Out come our teams…
“That Maradona clip reminded me of when I saw Messi once – the only time I’ve seen him,” emails Shaun T. “Barcelona won 2-1 at Man City (Suarez got two and Messi fluffed a very late penalty) BUT it was one of the only times I’ve been mesmerised by a lad on the pitch. I think at one point I just watched him, and only him, and if I’m not wrong he wriggled out of ridiculously tight spaces with nutmegs at least three times in the game. Just felt the same watching that Maradona clip.”
Maradona was a stronger player than Messi, with more competitive charisma – he stood for something beyond just footballing genius – but the spatial awareness and dexterity was similar, I agree.
I was interested to hear Pep Guardiola talking about Rayan Cherki last week, explaining what we all know, really: he’s an amazing talent, but can he work hard enough to become an amazing player? He’s been told – and by someone he can rely on to extract the most from him, if he does his bit.
Looking at that City team, they’re beginning to settle aren’t they? I still look at the back four and think it looks vulnerable – if Palace can feed their wingers, there’s joy to be had out wide, I fancy, and there’s not much steel in the centre of the park. I’m looking forward to seeing how Adam Wharton does – I love his vision and commitment to playing forward, but wonder if his relative lack of physicality will prevent him from becoming an elite midfielder.
I think I can only get three games on. If so, I guess Forest v Spurs will be the one I don’t watch.
They’re playing Opus at the Stade de Lit which, of course, is now inextricably linked with one of the great early-days-of-the-internet videos.
Glorious pettiness latest: Sunderland won’t display the name “Newcastle” on the scoreboard – it’ll be “Visitors”.
Email! “A lot of conflicting emotions and thoughts around this iteration of the derby,” begins Chris Paraskevas. “I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind but keep returning to classic highlights packages and match previews from every corner of the world wide web.
Having had the pleasure of experiencing a Mackem try to kick the shit out of me while on Tyneside (eye-balled him, we both had our colours on) I can honestly say that it just doesn’t feel the same down here in Australia.
Yes, there have been some memorable get-togethers: watching the 5-1 at the casino with a small (but very loud) group of ex-pats and seeing The Mackem Slayer’s injury-time equaliser at a packed bar before getting booked by the cops in true derby spirit.
But it just doesn’t have the same sense of occasion as being there, deep in enemy territory, walking among people who would metaphoricall/literally scrap with a horse if the occasion demanded it/the result didn’t go our way.
Extremely nervous (owing to our poor away form and the excellent job Le Bris has done) but ultimately, it’s great to have this fixture back.
PS. Can’t wait to see what Sunderland have done with the bar this time around.”
If I could pick one match this season to go to as a neutral, it’d be this one.
Talking of Brobbey, it’s an absolute crime if he doesn’t get a song to this, no 1 on this day on in 1993.
If I was a rich club looking for a midfielder, I’d be very interested in Noah Sadiki, who has a bit of everything. My guess is Sunderland look to run Newcastle off the pitch in midfield – not easily done – and to play off Brobbey, with Enzo Le Fee their wildcard. If they can get him on the ball, they’ll hope he can pick runs in behind with balls slid down the sides of defenders, and I’d also expect plenty of crosses and box-crashing from the midfielders.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have a flying machine either side of Woltemade, who has a lovely touch and imagination – I’m sure they’ll look to use him as a pivot and an out-ball, and for him to play little touches around the corner to set them away.
Pep Guardiola says Jeremy Doku has a leg injury. He likes Palace, who he thinks are a good, all-round side, while Oliver Glasner is happy to have Ismailia Sarr back, especially because of his pace in behind. He replaces Eddie Nketiah, but the fantastic Daniel Munoz is still unavailable, so Nathaniel Clyne continues at right-back.
Looking more closely at the teams, Sunderland make three changes, one in defence, one in midfield and one in attack: Reinildo, whose name has ISS overtones, replaces Trai Hume; Chemsdine Talbi is in for Lutsharel Geertruida; and Brian Brobbey plays up front, not Wilson Isidor.
Newcastle are without the injured Joelinton and Nick Pope, with Lewis Miley replacing the former wile Anthony Elanga is in for Harvey Barnes.
Unai Emery says West Ham are solid and compact with good players and a plan; they’re very strong in transition. Villa need to defend, control the game with their positioning and try and progress the ball.
Nuno says he thinks long and hard about whether to play Callum Wilson as well Jarrod Bowen – today he doesn’t – and considers the opponent and gameplan.
Thomas Frank says it’s been good to have a few days off between games, and his team are ready to go. He thinks his team now has a more discernible structure and identity – overall he liked the last three performances.
He’s so busy, it’s hard to enjoy the job, but in the relentlessness it’s a privilege to have his job. The team are more solid defensively and are now looking to improve in attack. He’s expecting a transitional game, Forest sitting back and waiting for a counter, and rest defence and counter-pressing will be important.
Spurs need to close down Forest’s midfield two, while Kudus and Xavi Simons are starting to play well.
Teams!
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinaldo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Traore, Talbi, Brobbey. Subs: Patterson, Geertruida, Hume, Isidor, Mayenda, Rigg, Adingra, Mundle, Neil.
Newcastle: Ramsdale, Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley, Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon. Subs: Ruddy, Schar, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, J Murphy, A Murphy, Willock, Ramsey.
**
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Pino, Sarr, Mateta. Subs: Benítez, Devenny, Nketiah, Uche, Hughes, Esse, Clyne, Cannoyt, Sosa, Devenny.
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo, Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Haaland. Subs: Trafford, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis.
**
West Ham United: Areola, Mavropanos, Magassa, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Potts, Diouf, Paqueta, Bowen, Summerville. Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Igor, Scarles, Rodríguez, Kante, Soucek, Wilson.
Aston Villa: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Onana, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins. Subs: Wright, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Lawrence, Buendia, Sancho, Guessand, Malen.
**
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Savona, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Luiz, Ndoye, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Kudus, Simons, Kolo Muani, Richarlison. Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Palhinha, Tel, Bergvall, Johnson, Odobert, Sarr, Davies.
Le Bris is proud, as Sunderland are back in the Premier League and excited to play this game – he wants composure and intensity.
Today, he goes with a back four, not the five he’s been using recently, but says the team are now able to flick between formations during games. Otherwise, he wants them to press high, and that’s our lot.
Here’s Eddie Howe! He says that his team have played lots of big matches over the last few years but this one is a bit different. He wants his players to be level.
Sunderland are a flexible team, so he’ll know more about the tactical specifics once he sees the XI Regis le Bris suggests, but Newcastle are in good form at the moment and he was happy with their midweek draw in Leverkusen.
Finally, he notes that it’s a big game for Lewis Miley, who’s a local lad, and after coming off the bench in Germany to score a fine goal, he deserves his start.
Preamble
There are certain feelings that are inspired and incited by nothing in the world other than football. A smell, a sound, a word can be all it needs to take us to that place, where everyday mundanity is transformed into hyperreal madness of sensory and emotional overload, the basic fact of our existence suddenly an entirely different proposition.
Sunderland v Newcastle is all that and then some, a festival of hatred and intensity that we’ve not seen in league form since 2016. Everything the game has to offer is there in this fixture and, with both sides in decent shape, this particular iteration is going to be wild.
On its own, it’s more than enough, but we’ve plenty more to enjoy too: Crystal Palace host title-chasing Manchester City in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final, while Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest and West Ham entertain Aston Villa. It’s going to be some afternoon.
Kick-offs: 2pm local, 2pm GMT.
