Newcastle United face Sunderland in the second Tyne-Wear derby of the season, looking to exact revenge on their local rivals after a 1-0 loss earlier this season.
Nick Woltemade scored an own goal that decided the reverse fixture in the middle of a flying start that Sunderland had made to the season, on their long-awaited return to the Premier League.
Regis Le Bris's team have fallen off from those standards that they had set earlier in the season. They are currently 13th, with 40 points from 30 games so far. Newcastle are four places above them in ninth, even if Eddie Howe's team only have two points more than Sunderland at this stage of the season.
Newcastle will have to bounce back quickly from a chastening trip to the Camp Nou, where they were beaten 7-2 in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg. They were impressive in the first half, and twice fought back to level the tie through a brace from Anthony Elanga. However, in the second half, Newcastle were absolutely blown away by the pace and precision of the Barcelona attack, in a result that ended their hopes of silverware this season.
They still have something to play for, though. They're seven points off the top five, that should be enough for a place in next season's Champions League. It's a tall order, and Newcastle will have to be near-perfect from now through to the end of the season.
Here's all you need to know about Sunday's match.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK, NBC/Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details
Kick-off time: Sunday, March 22 at 12:00 p.m. GMT (7:00 a.m. ET; 5:30 p.m. IST, and 11:00 p.m. AEDT)
Venue: St. James' Park, Newcastle
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Paul Howard
Team News
Newcastle United
Bruno Guimarães, M: muscle, OUT
Sandro Tonali, M: thigh, OUT
Lewis Miley, M: knee, OUT
Fabian Schär, D: ankle, OUT
Emil Krafth, D: knee, OUT
Sunderland
Robin Roefs, G: hamstring, OUT
Nordi Mukiele, D: calf, OUT
Bertrand Traoré, F: knee, OUT
Nilson Angulo, F: muscle, OUT
Romaine Mundle, F: hamstring, OUT
Enzo Le Fée, M: knock, DOUBT
Reinildo, D: knee, DOUBT
Talking Points
How do Newcastle bounce back from Barca hammering?
How does one bounce back from conceding seven goals? Particularly after competing as well as they did for three quarters of their tie against Barcelona, that second half capitulation at the Camp Nou will hurt Newcastle. Of course, the challenge here is different, and obviously, more straightforward than having to face a rampaging Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.
Newcastle have found a semblance of Premier League momentum recently, with two big wins against Manchester United and Chelsea in their last two games. With Anthony Elanga having his first big night in a Newcastle shirt with a brace in Barcelona, he is likely to come into this derby with a lot more confidence, after a difficult initiation to life in the north-east.
The Geordies at St. James' will ensure that the atmosphere will be buzzing from early on, and that provides the perfect platform for Newcastle's players to show that the second half in Barcelona was an aberration.
Derby provides occasion for Sunderland to pick up performance
Sunderland have slid down the Premier League table in the last couple of months after a sensational start to their season. They've won only one of their last six Premier League games, and their goal-scoring woes have come to the fore.
Only Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest have scored fewer league goals than Sunderland this season. They've scored only four times in their last eight matches in all competitions, and that included a poor 1-0 loss in the FA Cup to Port Vale as well.
With not much left to play for in their season, given that they are well clear of the relegation battle, doing the double over Newcastle will put an exclamation point on a successful return to the Premier League for Sunderland. For that, they'll have to become sharper in front of goal.
Newcastle's midfield woes
Bruno Guimaraes's absence through injury has given Newcastle a big headache through the course of the last few months, and that issue is now compounded by Sandro Tonali picking up a thigh injury in that loss in Barcelona.
Jacob Ramsey has become a regular in the Newcastle midfield in recent weeks after Guimaraes's injury, but now they're left dealing with another hole, with Tonali out. Lewis Miley could have been a potential option to fill in at the base of their midfield, but he's injured too. Perhaps the only solution left for Howe is to put Woltemade in midfield, as he's done often this season, alongside Joelinton and Ramsey, with the defensive load shared between the three.
It's not an ideal position to be in, though, particularly against a Sunderland midfield, including Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra, who have formed one of the best midfield units in the league.
A must-win for Newcastle
Newcastle haven't won their last five home derbies in the league. If they make it a sixth on Sunday, on the back of the season they've had, it's sure to not go down well among their fanbase. So this is a massive game for them. Their home record in derbies is poor, but their overall record in recent derbies is, too. Newcastle are winless in their last ten league derbies against Sunderland.
At the end of a season that has been a disappointment on all fronts, not managing a derby win will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Newcastle fans.
What do the numbers say?
Newcastle have not won any of their last five home league games against Sunderland, drawing two and losing three of those five games.
In fact, Newcastle have not won any of the last ten league derbies overall, with three draws and seven losses in that period.
Newcastle have scored just one goal in their last six league games against Sunderland.
Only Aston Villa, with 19, have won more points from losing positions than Sunderland's 13 in the Premier League this season.
Eddie Howe could become the first ever Newcastle manager to lose both of his first two league games against Sunderland.
