Premier League preview: Sunderland v Newcastle

Sunderland and Newcastle enter Saturday’s Tyne-Wear derby buoyed by promising showings in their opening Premier League encounters.

Alan Pardew’s Newcastle denied Arsenal victory at St James’ Park last weekend, while the Black Cats came from a goal down at Anfield to secure a point against Liverpool.

Newcastle were just seconds away from completing a derby double over their north-eastern rivals last term, before Asamoah Gyan struck in injury-time to earn Steve Bruce’s side a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, the venue for Saturday’s match.

While Sunderland recruited heavily in the close season, bringing in the likes of John O’Shea, Wes Brown and Sebastian Larsson, Newcastle’s squad has been depleted by several high-profile departures in the last eight months.

The loss of Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique to Liverpool, coupled with Kevin Nolan’s departure to West Ham, has left Pardew with plenty of voids to fill in his line-up.

Nolan’s absence is particularly notable ahead of the fixture given he scored four goals in the two derbies last season.

The only other Newcastle player to score against Sunderland last season, Shola Ameobi, will need to forge a strong partnership with new strike partner Demba Ba if his side are to take all three points from the Stadium of Light for the first time since 2006.

On the injury front, Hatem Ben Arfa will miss out due to an ongoing ankle problem, while Bruce will be missing O’Shea, James Meyler, Craig Gordon and Fraizer Campbell.