After a more difficult start to the Premier League season than expected, Newcastle have now won three of their last four – is there a sense on Tyneside than your season is now getting into full flow?
Yes and no. Newcastle’s performances have certainly turned a corner since the November international break and actually the Manchester City and Everton games are probably the two only examples this season where they have been able to piece together a good performance for the entire 90 minutes.
Newcastle’s
biggest problem this season has been consistency and that also applies across the 90 minutes of most matches, too. They gifted Tottenham a stoppage time equaliser last Tuesday, gifted Burnley a stoppage time goal last weekend and almost blew the win just minutes later, too, and then after a below-par first-half in Leverkusen on Wednesday, they were electric in the second half, got themselves in front, and then a lapse in concentration cost them what would have been a priceless three points in the context of the Champions League table.
There are signs Newcastle are close to clicking into top gear. There have been signs all season, though. The next step is to consistently piece it together across a full 90 minutes and turning good performances into wins. A win on Sunday at the Stadium of Light would certainly speed up that process.
I saw small rumblings of discontent around Eddie Howe, but as with early last season he’s answered those calls with great form in all competitions. What have been the key factors behind his success at Newcastle?
Put simply, Eddie Howe is one of the best managers in the Premier League. People may point to the money he has had to spend, and that has still been way below the money the ‘big six’ teams have had at their disposal, but his biggest success at Newcastle is improving the players he inherited from Steve Bruce. Jacob Murphy is the best example of a player who has gone from being shipped out on loan to West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday, to having tentative calls for an England call-up towards the end of last season.
He also has this Newcastle team’s patterns of play drilled down to the letter and it is almost robotic sometimes how ingrained they are into his players. He has been able to blend the top talent he has brought in with players who have always been the beating heart of the club and by delivering Champions League football twice and winning the Carabao Cup last season, there is no doubt he will go down as Newcastle’s greatest manager of the Premier League era.
A key issue for Newcastle this season has been the contrast in home and away form, what are the team’s key issues on the road?
It is hard to put a finger on it and Howe struggled to do so, too, when those questions were inevitably put to him by the media. Individual mistakes have cost them dearly at times in decisive moments of some of those away games. Nick Pope made errors in three consecutive away games against West Ham, Brentford and Marseille with Newcastle 1-0 ahead and that massively turned the tide of the game in all three of those matches.
Anthony Gordon spoke about it being a mentality issue on Wednesday when Newcastle conceded another late goal at the BayArena. Newcastle’s two glaring problems this season is conceding late goals, which has cost them points against Liverpool, Arsenal, Brighton, Tottenham and Leverkusen and recently defending set-pieces which had previously been a strong point. Given Sunderland have scored eight Premier League goals this season directly from set-pieces, and the fact Newcastle are pretty proficient in scoring from set-pieces, too, that could be an area where the game is won or lost on Sunday.
Losing Alexander Isak hasn’t been so bad for Newcastle with Nick Woltemade’s form in front of goal – what has the German international brought to the club?
They are different players but it has been refreshing to see how quickly Woltemade has taken to life at Newcastle and the Premier League. He is a threat in front of goal, particularly in the air, but he is a wonderfully gifted technician with the ball at his feet.
The comparisons to Peter Crouch are obvious, given Crouch was also a giant striker who was excellent with the ball at his feet, but Dimitar Berbatov is probably a more direct comparison in the way that Woltemade drifts deep and likes to be involved in Newcastle’s build-up and interplay.
Elsewhere on the pitch, Malick Thiaw, Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey and Yoane Wissa also joined. Wissa aside how have they all got on so far?
Malick Thiaw has been a revelation. It is early days but some fans have said he is the best central defender Newcastle have had since Jonathan Woodgate and on the early evidence it would be hard to disagree.
The other three have had a much slower start. Anthony Elanga has been the biggest disappointment of the summer. Bought for £55million, with 12 assists to his name in the Premier League last season for Nottingham Forest, the expectation was for him to hit the ground running at St James’ Park but it just hasn’t happened for him yet. He is rapid and a box of tricks but his end product has left a lot to be desired. He is a way off Newcastle’s other wide options (Gordon, Murphy and Harvey Barnes) and I asked Howe what he needs to do to get to their level and he feels he still needs a bit of time to get used to the ‘Newcastle Way’ but he is confident he will be worth the wait.
We have only seen Wissa for just over 20 minutes so it is hard to make any judgement yet. His knee injury he picked up on international duty was unfortunate but Newcastle would have obviously liked to have seen more of him than they have done.
Ramsey is a curious one. He has shown glimpses of what he can do but he hasn’t quite come out of his shell yet and he has three huge personalities in Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton to compete with in midfield.
Between the posts, Aaron Ramsdale has recently replaced the injured Nick Pope – who do you think is the best long-term option for Eddie Howe?
Neither, to be brutally honest, although I do think Pope will resume his position as number one when he returns to fitness. I have been a big fan of Pope at Newcastle and I have routinely defended him against his dissenters who bemoan his lack of ability with his feet.
While that is undeniably true he has always been excellent at the basic fundamentals of goalkeeping – shotstopping, coming for crosses and commanding his area. When he stops doing those fundamentals is when it becomes an issue and after an excellent start to the season (five clean sheets in his first seven league matches) that is what started to happen and when you have an England international in Aaron Ramsdale on the bench ready to take your place then calls were growing to give him a chance.
A groin injury Pope picked up at the end of last month has seen Ramsdale play the last four matches and while Newcastle have not tasted defeat in those games, he hasn’t exactly made the jersey his own. He has looked unconvincing, is yet to claim a clean sheet and if Pope is fit this weekend I would suspect Howe would give serious thought to recalling him to the side.
Crucially for Newcastle, England international full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento are both back to fitness – how important is for the busy December period?
Massively important, particularly because Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth are both nursing injuries at the moment. Livramento and Hall have had a transformative effect on the team since returning from injury and their athleticism at both ends of the pitch is a major weapon for Newcastle.
There is an argument they could be England’s starting full-backs for years to come and, in the case of Livramento, Newcastle will hope to keep any vultures at the door in this summer’s transfer market.
Many of the Newcastle team tasted derby success back in 2024 in the FA Cup, but of course against a much weaker Sunderland side. Do you think that could provide a sense of over-confidence or work in the team’s favour?
I really don’t think it will have too much bearing on this weekend’s game at all. As you said, it was a much weaker Sunderland side and I would suspect Trai Hume and Dan Ballard will be the only survivors of the team who started for Sunderland that day – both of whom have made huge strides in the last two years.
Anthony Gordon may take some confidence from the fact he got the better of Hume that day but Eddie Howe is wise enough to ensure Newcastle do not draw on that win too much – although the fact there will be Newcastle players in the side who experienced that win on this ground can’t hurt.
In will be a very intimidating atmosphere for Newcastle, but one they’ve experienced in away European matches – how do you think Howe will set up tactically?
I think with the emotion of the fixture, and the fact it is the first Premier League derby at the Stadium of Light, this will be a different atmosphere away from home than they would have experienced before. I don’t think it will change the way Howe approaches the game.
Warm hearts and cool heads is what wins derby matches and I think that will be the message Howe will drum into his players. He is a very level-headed manager and doesn’t get carried away with wins and doesn’t offer knee-jerk reactions to defeats.
Much like the impression I get from Regis Le Bris from the outside looking in. Arguably both teams’ biggest strength lies with the man in the dugout and I am intrigued to see who gets the better of proceedings on Sunday.
Are any players missing and what is your predicted starting XI?
Newcastle are without Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Sven Botman and William Osula through injury while Nick Pope and Joelinton are working to be fit for the weekend after picking up groin injuries.
If they do prove their fitness I would suspect Pope for Ramsdale will be the only change to the team that started the draw against Leverkusen on Wednesday although Lewis Miley staked his claim for a place in the team with a goal and an excellent performance from the bench at the BayArena.
Predicted XI: Pope; Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Barnes, Gordon; Woltemade.
Sunderland are unbeaten in their nine Premier League matches against Newcastle – what is your prediction for the final score?
Given the last time Sunderland and Newcastle met in the Premier League I don’t think history will have any bearing on this game whatsoever. However, Sunderland have been superb in the Premier League so far this season and their aggressive recruitment in the transfer market has allowed them to break the chain of promoted teams struggling to make a mark in the top flight.
Sunderland have won one of their last six and Newcastle have turned a corner to pick up 10 points from the last 12 available. Again, form rarely comes into it in a derby game and I expect it to come down to the fine margins. The midfield battle will be key, as will set-pieces. Whoever deals with those two things better will emerge victorious.
I think there will be one goal in it but as a Newcastle reporter I will go with United coming away from the Stadium of Light with a 2-1 victory. Good luck at the weekend to both sets of fans and may the best team win!
