Paul Merson verdict on Newcastle United and Sunderland

Paul Merson speaking about Newcastle United and Sunderland.

NUFC now seventeen weeks into the season.

A very intense period of time with Newcastle playing every midweek, with Champions League and Carabao Cup commitments, as well as Premier League.

Eddie Howe and team now preparing for their next match.

A 2pm kick-off on Sunday, away at Sunderland.

Paul Merson discussing how things now stand for Newcastle United as they prepare for this clash on Wearside.

Paul Merson talking to Sportskeeda ahead of Sunderland v Newcastle:

“What a game.

“The big derby returns to the Premier League!

“We say this every week but Sunderland have been unbelievable, haven’t they? No matter how many times we say it, this performance on their return to the top-flight never loses its shine.

“Newcastle are scoring goals but they just can’t keep a clean sheet. The last time they prevented a team from scoring was seven games ago against Athletic Club in the Champions League.

“If you go player for player on paper, it’s a Newcastle win.

“But I can assure you that this game can never be won on paper! The Stadium of Light will be absolutely rocking and Sunderland will put up a strong fight.

“I hate doing it but I’m going to have to sit on the fence here. Draw for me.

“Prediction: Sunderland 1 Newcastle 1”

My thoughts

As Paul Merson indicates, the proverbial ‘form book goes of the window’ is often in play when it comes to derbies.

The key factor is usually which team best handles the occasion.

Paul Merson correctly calling it, that Newcastle United have the better players, so will they show that and do the business when it comes to an away derby?

This summer, Sunderland spent more (|£160m+) on new signings than any other club promoted to the Premier League has ever done. To be fair, they look to have done pretty well in their recruitment.

The fact remains though, that Sunderland have only won one of their last six Premier League matches, and that sole success since October saw them go 2-0 down at home before recovering against Bournemouth. Their most recent Premier League game saw them hammered 3-0 by Manchester City.

In contrast, Newcastle United have picked up 10 points from their most recent four Premier League games and that includes a superb win over Manchester City, when Pep Guardiola’s team were very lucky to lose only 2-1.

If Eddie Howe’s team can play to those kind of levels, then I think Newcastle will win for sure.

As we all know though, derbies are very difficult to predict and maybe a case of after the first 15 minutes we will have a decent idea how this game is likely to go.

United outclassed the Mackems 3-0 last time on Wearside in January 2024 and from the first whistle it was obvious which was the better team. Hopefully more of the same on Sunday.