Newcastle United and Sunderland will renew their Premier League hostilities next season - but there is a Champions League twist.
Stop what you’re doing - the Premier League fixture list has dropped! That was the cry across the region at 9am as tradies downed tools and office staff left their desktop monitors on standby following the all-important announcement.
In previous years, a tricky opening six games for Newcastle United, another festive trip to Manchester United or a final-day dabble on the River Thames would have led today’s headlines. But an itch that has taken over nine years to scratch was at the top of supporters’ agendas as everyone from a black-and-white or red-and-white persuasion searched for the Tyne-Wear derby.
Not since March 2016 - when an adrenaline-pumped Aleksandar Mitrovic rescued a point at St James’ Park before celebrating with a pitch invader - have bitter rivals Newcastle and Sunderland met in the Premier League. The Magpies coasted to a 3-0 win in the FA Cup 18 months ago but this promises to hit differently.
If the cup triumph was a flare-up of the hostilities, Sunderland's top-flight comeback could - providing they avoid an instant relegation - mark the formal reignition of English football’s greatest feud. December 13 at the Stadium of Light is the official word but prudent Toon fans have already begun visualising the expected mood around the trip to Wearside.
Champions League football poses a far more lucrative prospect than local bragging rights. And just three days before the Stadium of Light visit, the Magpies will compete in matchday six of UEFA’s elite sporting competition.
It is perhaps foolish to speculate the impact either game will have on the other. To do so would be predicting a Champions League fixture list that has not been released yet and Newcastle’s fortunes in the first four months of the campaign.
But imagine Newcastle travelling to the Bernabeu three days before a must-not-lose game to their fiercest rivals. By contrast, United may be sitting healthy in the Champions League table and have a favourable match-up against one of the competition's “lesser” outfits.
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Either way, Eddie Howe would find himself juggling a balancing act on whether to attack the European riches or a clash against a side where defeat has been the undoing of previous Toon managers before him. This is why squad depth is crucial.
To caveat Newcastle’s continental conundrum, the Black Cats face Liverpool and Manchester City - both away from home - ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby. Hardly the confidence-builder a newly-promoted club needs before the game that matters more than any other.
In truth, debate over fixture lists proves futile as everyone plays each other twice. The table does not lie after 38 games. But what this morning’s release did was ramp up the excitement and pump some much-needed life into a derby that was, until recently, at risk of fading into obscurity…
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