HomeFeatured ArticlesNewcastle vs Sunderland Preview | Team News, Stats and Key Players

Newcastle vs Sunderland Preview | Team News, Stats and Key Players

Newcastle United welcome rivals Sunderland to St James’ Park on Saturday lunchtime, but will be missing their best players so far this season – as Yohan Cabaye made his £19m move to PSG on Wednesday, and Loic Remy is suspended after his altercation with Bradley Johnson; Luuk De Jong has been brought in on loan for the rest of the season from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Newcastle Vs Sunderland Preview

Team News

According to Physioroom.com, Yoan Gouffran, Gabriel Obertan and Papiss Cisse took knocks against but may be available for the Derby. Fabricio Coloccini will miss the game through injury.

Sunderland will be without Carlos Cuellar, while Lee Cattermole could be back for the game.

Interesting Statistics

Newcastle have conceded first in their last three home games.

Fabio Borini has scored in each of his two Premier League appearances against Newcastle United.

Adam Johnson has five goals and two assists in his last three Premier League appearances.

Newcastle United haven’t won against Sunderland since August 2011.

Key Players

Yoan Gouffran and Adam Johnson

With Yohan Cabaye completing his move to PSG, and Loic Remy suspended for the game against Sunderland, it’s difficult to see who Newcastle United can rely on.

Apart from the two Frenchman suggested above, Yoan Gouffran has also been in excellent form, and while he’s not 100% for the derby, Alan Pardew and the fans will have to hope that he is, as he has contributed to 9 PL goals for Newcastle United so far this season, with 6 goals and 3 assists.

The French winger is averaging a goal every 251 minutes, has scored 6 goals from just 19 shots – for an outstanding chance conversion rate of 32%; a shooting accuracy of 53% and a clear-cut chance conversion of 50%.

Gouffran v Johnson shooting
Gouffran v Johnson shooting

Gouffran is crucial to his side when creating chances. The former Bordeaux winger has created 23 chances for his team-mates, a chance created every 65 minutes, with three assists as mentioned above. If Newcastle are to gain the bragging rights back over Sunderland, the St James’ Park faithful must hope Gouffran is fit to play.

Gouffran v Johnson creativity
Gouffran v Johnson creativity

Adam Johnson is the player Gustavo Poyet can rely on currently, with five goals and two assists in his last three Premier League appearances; he had just one goal and one assist in his previous 17 appearances, including substitute appearances.

The former Man City and Middlesborough man has a better mins per goal rate than Gouffran, currently. Johnson has scored 6 goals from 22 shots; he is averaging 231 minutes per goal, a chance conversion of 27%, a shooting accuracy of 45% and a clear-cut chance conversion of 75%.

In terms of creating chances for Sunderland, Adam Johnson has created a total of 29 chances, resulting in three assists – averaging 48 mins per chance created.

The battle of the match winner between these two, and the heated match itself, should be a brilliant spectacle.

Winner Betting

With Newcastle conceding the first goal at home in their last three Premier League games, it could be worth backing Adam Johnson or Fabio Borini to score first, who are available at 8/1 and 10/1 respectively, or they are 13/5 and 10/3 to score anytime. It might be worth backing the first half result – Or backing the first half result of Sunderland at 10/3.

Sunderland are unbeaten in their last four meetings against Newcastle United in the Premier League, so the Double Chance market of Sunderland/Draw is available at 4/5, although if you like the bigger price, Winner have placed Newcastle firm favourites at 10/11, with Sunderland at a big 16/5, it could be worth backing the Black Cats.

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