English Premier
2012-03-04 - Newcastle United vs Sunderland
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 4 March 2012 - Kick Off 12pm
This game is live on TV
Newcastle United
Newcastle United are still in the hunt for a place in the Champions League, but they cannot afford to drop too many points like they did here last week when throwing away a 2-0 lead against struggling Wolves and only earning a point. Alan Pardew has been excellent so far this season and will only endear himself further to the Newcastle supporters if he can oversee a double over local rivals Sunderland.
The Magpies are 6th in the Premier League table, but they are only 6 points behind Arsenal in the final Champions League place and could cut that in half with a win in this Derby. They have been fairly effective at St James' Park this season, going 7-4-2, scoring 20 goals and conceding 14.
Newcastle have just hit the buffers a little in recent weeks, winning just 2 of their last 6 games in all competitions and having that loss of two points last weekend. However, most of their poorer results have come on their travels recently and they had actually won 4 in a row at home in all competitions before the draw with Wolves. Newcastle have also been scoring plenty of goals, reaching at least 2 in 5 of their last 6 here.
There are no new injury worries for Alan Pardew ahead of this game.
Sunderland
Sunderland enjoyed a storming start to life under the guidance of Martin O'Neill, but they were brought back down to earth with a bang last week as they were humbled 4-0 by West Brom. However, the feeling remains optimistic that the team can finish in the top half of the table with the more hopeful believing they may even overhaul Newcastle United as the top team in the North East IF they can win this game.
The results on Saturday mean Sunderland have actually fallen down to 12th in the Premier League, but they will be aware that a win could send them as high as 8th. The Black Cats are 4-2-7 away from home this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 17.
Defeat at the Hawthornes last weekend means Sunderland have actually lost back to back games in the Premier League, although they have moved on to the 6th Round of the FA Cup in that time. The team have lost 2 of their last 3 away games in the League, and they have only been involved in 1 away draw from their last 13 games in all competitions.
Wes Brown and Titus Bramble will both be missing, while Phil Bardsley is a doubt. Nicolas Bendtner is another player that looks set to miss out.
Head to Head
Newcastle United famously dismantled Sunderland 5-1 here last season.
That result means they have now won 5 of their last 6 at home against their local rivals since losing 1-2 here on the night when Ruud Gullit decided to drop Alan Shearer in his final game as manager of Newcastle.
Prediction
This is another match that could go either way as Newcastle seem to have come off the boil from the form they have displayed all season, while Sunderland had been playing very well before that disappointing result last week.
The one thing I feel we will have is goals in this game on a low-scoring weekend in the Premier League. I think Sunderland are capable of getting on the scoresheet here, while Newcastle United have a front two that can cause every team problems, particularly one that is missing a couple of key defenders as Sunderland are.
I was a little surprised that the Overs has been priced up at odds against and that seems a little too tempting for me to ignore. This is a fixture that can provide goals and I think it is worth a chance for the early game to go that way.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Newcastle United 2-1 Sunderland
