Preview: Sunderland vs Newcastle: Tight affair in North-East derby

The Tyne-Wear derby is one of the most fiercely contested local derbies in English football. In this match last season, a goal deep into injury time from Asamoah Gyan secured a 1-1 draw and in doing so prevented Newcastle from doing the double over Sunderland, which would’ve been the first double in the Tyne-Wear derby since 2006. In the reverse fixture at St. James’ Park, Kevin Nolan scored a hat-trick while Shola Ameobi bagged a brace to give the Toon Army a 5-1 victory over Sunderland.

Both teams earned a point to be proud of last weekend, with Sebastian Larsson’s stunning volley earning Sunderland a point at Anfield while Newcastle held Arsenal to a scoreless draw at home.

Two of Steve Bruce’s new signings stood out against Liverpool; Wes Brown gave a man of the match performance at the back and Seb Larsson produced the equalizer. Bruce decided to ease in the likes of Craig Gardner and Conor Wickham rather than throw them into the deep end with a start away to Liverpool, but they could yet feature against Newcastle.

Alan Pardew gave home debuts to duo Yohann Cabaye and Demba Ba. Neither made that much of an impact as Arsenal dominated possession and defensive pair Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor stole the show for the home side. Gabriel Obertan, recently signed from Manchester United, came on during the second-half and impressed with his pacey determination.

The defensive displays of these two teams on the opening day lingers in the memory, so a low-scoring affair is plausible. Despite being the away side, Sunderland showed far more attacking intent at Anfield than Newcastle did at home to Arsenal, so bet bet365’s offer of 6/1 on Sunderland winning 1-0 looks appealing.

Stephane Sessegnon showed impressive scoring form in pre-season for Sunderland, and the attacking midfielder is 7/1 on to score first at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, with bet365.

Tip: Sunderland to win 1-0 @ 6/1