The North East of England is a passionate place to be, especially when it comes to football. Both of the region’s Premier League sides, Sunderland and Newcastle United, feel they rightly belong in the top tier of English football. But this week, at least one of them will be relegated to the Championship. North East football is certainly in for a big night.
With Sunderland 3-2 winners against Chelsea last Saturday and Newcastle United only managing a point against already-relegated Aston Villa, a huge night for North East football is coming. Sunderland take on an out of form Everton side with only one win since mid March in their game in hand, knowing that victory will keep them safe as well as relegate their rivals and Norwich City.
The Black Cats showed great fighting spirit last Saturday, coming from behind to record a victory whereas Newcastle showed little fight in their draw with Aston Villa. Norwich City, the other side in the mix to be relegated, were defeated 1-0 at home against Manchester United to extend their poor run of form. These results took Sunderland out of the relegation places, one point ahead of the Magpies and four ahead of second bottom Norwich. Their destiny is now firmly in their hands.
At Newcastle there is every chance Rafa Benitez will activate his get-out clause and leave for pastures new should they be relegated. They would struggle to hang onto their big name players on high wages, such as Andros Townsend, Jonjo Shelvey and Georginio Wijnaldum. Also with the new TV deal coming into play next season the money the relegated teams will miss out on would be unimaginable to many. Norwich, on the other hand, are maybe better-equipped to bounce straight back. No mass exodus would be expected and they should be able to keep hold of their current manager for one more season at least.
Sunderland currently have the upper hand at present but at no point can they relax. If disaster strikes, they could still be relegated. The players must keep their focus and produce a performance good enough to beat Everton and only then can they relax.
Sunderland have been in this situation several times before and are experienced in pulling off great escapes. The last four seasons, including this one, has seen the Black Cats battle their way to safety at the death. Maybe this time if they produce escape number four they can start to take steps away from merely battling for survival.
Sam Allardyce took over on Wearside earlier in the season when the club were 19th in the league and had yet to record a victory. After a long struggle he managed to tighten the side’s leaky defence, thanks partly to some good transfer business in January. With the help of Jermain Defoe in particular the club have steadily got themselves into a position where their fate is their own hands.
On Wednesday night, nerves will be at the worst for many a year not just at the Stadium of Light and amongst Sunderland supporters watching on TV but also for Newcastle supporters who know that their bitter rivals could relegate them before the season is over. If you’re a neutral, watch this game. It has the potential to have everything.
