Newcastle 2/1 to catch sliding Sunderland
January wasn't the greatest month for north-east football as both Newcastle and Sunderland sold their top goalscorers Andy Carroll and Darren Bent for huge sums without managing to bring in direct replacements.
The absence of England internationals up front hasn't stopped Newcastle from scoring four or more twice already in 2011 though, while Sunderland have found the net twice in every games since allowing Bent to join Aston Villa, however the expectations is that their departures will be felt more keenly as the season progresses.
But who will struggle to cope more? The widespread expectation is that Sunderland are better equipped to push on because of the presence of two other fairly prolific forwards in Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck, yet on recent evidence the Black Cats push for European football is dwindling despite their continued success in attack.
They were agonisingly close to defeat in the second Tyne-Wear derby of the campaign at the Stadium of Light and have since then suffered successive losses to Chelsea and Stoke despite scoring twice in both matches, setbacks that saw them shunted out of the top six by resurgent Liverpool.
The question now is whether Steve Bruce's side will continue to lose ground and endure a springtime slump similar to the one that compromised their progress last year, though it's worth pointing out that on that occasion the rot had set in far sooner and far more spectacularly.
Newcastle will be hoping that their rivals do have trouble replicating their fine pre-Christmas form because it's far from unthinkable that, six points behind the Wearsiders with a superior goal difference and a game in hand against relegation-threatened Birmingham, they can overtake them.
If you fancy Alan Pardew's men to end the season on a high, having already fulfilled eight of their ten fixtures against top-five teams, intriguing odds of [3.05] are offered on them finishing above Sunderland, while it's [1.3] that the Mackems will be the north-east's finest once again.
Which club would you be backing? Offer your insight in the space below...
Published: 9 Feb 2011
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