#Sunderland #Newcastle #Crystal #Palace #Manchester #City #Premier #League #live #Football
Key events
Half-time entertainment:
No side in the league has scored fewer first-half goals than Sunderland, and they really struggled to break Newcastle down – which makes sense, as they lack a bit of guile and class up front, while their opponents are physical, well-drilled, and defending in numbers.
HALF-TIME SCORES
Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland 0-0 Newcastle United
West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa
“‘Relative to the best teams of the Premier League era, they’re miles off, in mine – is that controversial?’” begins Ric Arthur, quoting me to myself. “Yes; and churlish.”
You think they’re anywhere near Wenger’s best teams, Guardiola’s two great teams, Mourhino’s Chelsea, Man United’s two Champions League-winning sides? I’d have to see the working; I haven’t a clue what it’d even be.
Xhaka crosses to the back post and there’s Ballard, the man Sunderland would want it to be in that position, leaping … and he heads over.
Back at Selhurst, Palace are back at City, Mateta foiled by Donnaruma coming out to paw away just as it looks like he’s made his way around the keeper.
Burn can’t continue; he’s replaced by Fabian Schar. I was in Ibiza this summer and got chatting to a lad in the club who turned out to be one of Schar’s best mates – he told me he’d been to Wembley for the League Cup final and totally lost his mind, crying his eyes out at his boy’s success. We agreed his reaction made perfect sense.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland 41)
That’s what happens when you don’t take your chances and the opposition have a goal-monster in their ranks. A brilliant cross from Nunes swinging out, and Haaland leaps to head into the far side-netting. He’s got some potential, that lad.
At the City Ground, a fine cross through the corridor has narrowly eluded Gibbs-White, then another low cross is flicked wide by the same player. He wants a corner and rightly so – the defender took the ball behind.
Mukiele slides in and ploughs into Burn; he’s booked, but that looked to me like a 50-50, both players entitled to go for the ball in the knowledge that at least one of them was getting caught.
“Arsenal are only a few weeks off comfortably thrashing Bayern Munich,” says Adam Largs. “They’re 30 feet-deep in their depth chart and not playing their best, but it seems remarkably churlish to call them ‘miserable.’
Relative to the best teams of the Premier League era, they’re miles off, in mine – is that controversial? As it happens, I think similar is so in Spain.
The Tyne-Wear derby has been a little disappointing so far. We’ve had very little goalmouth action and Newcastle have barely made it out of their own half. Who’d have thought that, a year ago, they’d come to the Stadium of Light, to play a league fixture, as underdogs, then play like them?
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Hudson-Odoi 28)
Vicario sends Gray a dreadful pass, Sangare snaps into the challenge, wins the ball, draws the keeper, squares, and Hudson-Odoi taps home.
Sunderland win a free-kick not far outside their own box and Roefs comes to pump it towards the Newcastle box; it reminds me of Dave Beasant for Wimbledon.
GOAL! West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa (Bowen 25)
Diouf’s cross is cleared but only as far as Potts, who’s shinned volley from the edge reaches Bowen much nearer goal, and he sticks out a foot to deflect past Bizot.
Tangentially, watching City having watched Arsenal last evening, I think we can say that no one is going to look back at this season’s eventual champions and rhapsodise them as a great side. The standard at the top of the table is miserable.
Now Kamada sashays through midfield and sets Sarr away, but he can’t quite work a shooting angle and his attempted square pass doesn’t reach Mateta. Palace are knocking at the door.
Palace are putting it on City, Pino wriggling past a pair of challenges inside the box but falling just as it’s time to shoot. At West Ham, Onana has just taken a header away from Konsa, sticking it over the bar – to his teammate’s consternation.
“The worst kit ever,” reckons Nicola Schofield, “that I think is meant to represent the Manchester rain?! To think we turned down Adidas for more of this from Puma!!!”
The Definitely Maybe kit was worse, I’d say, but we can all have our favourite least favourite.
We talked about Wharton conducting and he turns in midfield then lofts a sensational pass over the top and Pino is in! He punches a confident finish too, but it thuds against the face of the bar and flies over! That ought to have been 1-0.
Back with the Tyne-Wear derby, it’s still Sunderland making the running, Traore curling a gorgeous trivela cross into the corridor that Burn sticks behind; the corner comes to nowt.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-1 Aston Villa (Mavrapanos own goal 9)
McGinn nips inside on to his left foot – his ability to cross off either side is exceptional – swings a ball in to the near post, Watkins hurls himself at it, flicks it I think, then Mavrapanos, contesting the header, imparts a heavier touch that flies into the top corner.
It reminds me a bit of this Chelsea one from 1994.
What on earth have Manchester City come as? Photo to follow when I have it, but in the meantime, Sunderland have a corner … ands Newcastle get it away at the second attempt.
At the City Ground, Sangare has just monstered a header on to the post. They’ve started well against Spurs, whose impressive away record is surely a coincidence.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Aston Villa (Fernandes 1)
A goal in 30 seconds! Villa try playing out from the back with a little triangle, but Fernandes harasses Konsa, winning the ball off him on the left edge of the box before swishing a brilliant finish from an acute angle that screeches past Bizot and high into the net.
The Stadium of Light is absolutely jumping and it’s Sunderland commanding the early territory. Newcastle are sitting off in a 4-5-1 block.
Away we go!
“Here in the Grenadines the game is on in Keegan’s Bar on the island of Bequia – in case anyone is frantically searching,” advises Alun Pugh. “Everyone welcome. Not Mackems obviously.”
Aha, Sky have Multiview, so I’ll have Sunderland v Newcastle and Palace v City on my main screens, and keep up to date with West Ham v Villa and Foresrt v Spurs thataway.
Out come our teams…
“That Maradona clip reminded me of when I saw Messi once – the only time I’ve seen him,” emails Shaun T. “Barcelona won 2-1 at Man City (Suarez got two and Messi fluffed a very late penalty) BUT it was one of the only times I’ve been mesmerised by a lad on the pitch. I think at one point I just watched him, and only him, and if I’m not wrong he wriggled out of ridiculously tight spaces with nutmegs at least three times in the game. Just felt the same watching that Maradona clip.”
Maradona was a stronger player than Messi, with more competitive charisma – he stood for something beyond just footballing genius – but the spatial awareness and dexterity was similar, I agree.
I was interested to hear Pep Guardiola talking about Rayan Cherki last week, explaining what we all know, really: he’s an amazing talent, but can he work hard enough to become an amazing player? He’s been told – and by someone he can rely on to extract the most from him, if he does his bit.
Looking at that City team, they’re beginning to settle aren’t they? I still look at the back four and think it looks vulnerable – if Palace can feed their wingers, there’s joy to be had out wide, I fancy, and there’s not much steel in the centre of the park. I’m looking forward to seeing how Adam Wharton does – I love his vision and commitment to playing forward, but wonder if his relative lack of physicality will prevent him from becoming an elite midfielder.
I think I can only get three games on. If so, I guess Forest v Spurs will be the one I don’t watch.
They’re playing Opus at the Stade de Lit which, of course, is now inextricably linked with one of the great early-days-of-the-internet videos.
Glorious pettiness latest: Sunderland won’t display the name “Newcastle” on the scoreboard – it’ll be “Visitors”.
Email! “A lot of conflicting emotions and thoughts around this iteration of the derby,” begins Chris Paraskevas. “I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind but keep returning to classic highlights packages and match previews from every corner of the world wide web.
Having had the pleasure of experiencing a Mackem try to kick the shit out of me while on Tyneside (eye-balled him, we both had our colours on) I can honestly say that it just doesn’t feel the same down here in Australia.
Yes, there have been some memorable get-togethers: watching the 5-1 at the casino with a small (but very loud) group of ex-pats and seeing The Mackem Slayer’s injury-time equaliser at a packed bar before getting booked by the cops in true derby spirit.
But it just doesn’t have the same sense of occasion as being there, deep in enemy territory, walking among people who would metaphoricall/literally scrap with a horse if the occasion demanded it/the result didn’t go our way.
Extremely nervous (owing to our poor away form and the excellent job Le Bris has done) but ultimately, it’s great to have this fixture back.
PS. Can’t wait to see what Sunderland have done with the bar this time around.”
If I could pick one match this season to go to as a neutral, it’d be this one.
Talking of Brobbey, it’s an absolute crime if he doesn’t get a song to this, no 1 on this day on in 1993.
If I was a rich club looking for a midfielder, I’d be very interested in Noah Sadiki, who has a bit of everything. My guess is Sunderland look to run Newcastle off the pitch in midfield – not easily done – and to play off Brobbey, with Enzo Le Fee their wildcard. If they can get him on the ball, they’ll hope he can pick runs in behind with balls slid down the sides of defenders, and I’d also expect plenty of crosses and box-crashing from the midfielders.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have a flying machine either side of Woltemade, who has a lovely touch and imagination – I’m sure they’ll look to use him as a pivot and an out-ball, and for him to play little touches around the corner to set them away.
Pep Guardiola says Jeremy Doku has a leg injury. He likes Palace, who he thinks are a good, all-round side, while Oliver Glasner is happy to have Ismailia Sarr back, especially because of his pace in behind. He replaces Eddie Nketiah, but the fantastic Daniel Munoz is still unavailable, so Nathaniel Clyne continues at right-back.
Looking more closely at the teams, Sunderland make three changes, one in defence, one in midfield and one in attack: Reinildo, whose name has ISS overtones, replaces Trai Hume; Chemsdine Talbi is in for Lutsharel Geertruida; and Brian Brobbey plays up front, not Wilson Isidor.
Newcastle are without the injured Joelinton and Nick Pope, with Lewis Miley replacing the former wile Anthony Elanga is in for Harvey Barnes.
Unai Emery says West Ham are solid and compact with good players and a plan; they’re very strong in transition. Villa need to defend, control the game with their positioning and try and progress the ball.
Nuno says he thinks long and hard about whether to play Callum Wilson as well Jarrod Bowen – today he doesn’t – and considers the opponent and gameplan.
Thomas Frank says it’s been good to have a few days off between games, and his team are ready to go. He thinks his team now has a more discernible structure and identity – overall he liked the last three performances.
He’s so busy, it’s hard to enjoy the job, but in the relentlessness it’s a privilege to have his job. The team are more solid defensively and are now looking to improve in attack. He’s expecting a transitional game, Forest sitting back and waiting for a counter, and rest defence and counter-pressing will be important.
Spurs need to close down Forest’s midfield two, while Kudus and Xavi Simons are starting to play well.
Teams!
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinaldo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Traore, Talbi, Brobbey. Subs: Patterson, Geertruida, Hume, Isidor, Mayenda, Rigg, Adingra, Mundle, Neil.
Newcastle: Ramsdale, Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley, Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon. Subs: Ruddy, Schar, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, J Murphy, A Murphy, Willock, Ramsey.
**
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Pino, Sarr, Mateta. Subs: Benítez, Devenny, Nketiah, Uche, Hughes, Esse, Clyne, Cannoyt, Sosa, Devenny.
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo, Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Haaland. Subs: Trafford, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis.
**
West Ham United: Areola, Mavropanos, Magassa, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Potts, Diouf, Paqueta, Bowen, Summerville. Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Igor, Scarles, Rodríguez, Kante, Soucek, Wilson.
Aston Villa: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Onana, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins. Subs: Wright, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Lawrence, Buendia, Sancho, Guessand, Malen.
**
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Savona, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Luiz, Ndoye, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Kudus, Simons, Kolo Muani, Richarlison. Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Palhinha, Tel, Bergvall, Johnson, Odobert, Sarr, Davies.
Le Bris is proud, as Sunderland are back in the Premier League and excited to play this game – he wants composure and intensity.
Today, he goes with a back four, not the five he’s been using recently, but says the team are now able to flick between formations during games. Otherwise, he wants them to press high, and that’s our lot.
Here’s Eddie Howe! He says that his team have played lots of big matches over the last few years but this one is a bit different. He wants his players to be level.
Sunderland are a flexible team, so he’ll know more about the tactical specifics once he sees the XI Regis le Bris suggests, but Newcastle are in good form at the moment and he was happy with their midweek draw in Leverkusen.
Finally, he notes that it’s a big game for Lewis Miley, who’s a local lad, and after coming off the bench in Germany to score a fine goal, he deserves his start.
Preamble
There are certain feelings that are inspired and incited by nothing in the world other than football. A smell, a sound, a word can be all it needs to take us to that place, where everyday mundanity is transformed into hyperreal madness of sensory and emotional overload, the basic fact of our existence suddenly an entirely different proposition.
Sunderland v Newcastle is all that and then some, a festival of hatred and intensity that we’ve not seen in league form since 2016. Everything the game has to offer is there in this fixture and, with both sides in decent shape, this particular iteration is going to be wild.
On its own, it’s more than enough, but we’ve plenty more to enjoy too: Crystal Palace host title-chasing Manchester City in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final, while Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest and West Ham entertain Aston Villa. It’s going to be some afternoon.
Kick-offs: 2pm local, 2pm GMT.
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