Despite being knocked out of European competition as well as the Carabao Cup, Newcastle United have an awful lot of big games still to play.
One of the themes of Newcastle’s season has been the sheer difficultly of the teams they’ve been drawn against in cup competitions.
Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan represented a particularly difficult Champions League group, while their Carabao Cup journey saw them play both Manchester clubs before losing to Chelsea.
The FA Cup, of course, offers up an entirely different challenge.
Indeed, a trip to Sunderland awaits in the third round, the first meeting of the two clubs since March 2016.
Speaking ahead of the game at the Stadium of Light, a certain Jordan Pickford announced his decision to attend and named the one rivalry that can match it.
Something of a villainous figure amongst the Newcastle supporters, the England international was recently riling Eddie Howe’s players up during Everton’s win at Goodison Park earlier this month.
Having never played in the derby, Pickford was speaking to beIN Sports about the game.
Sunderland vs Newcastle: Jordan Pickford delivers verdict
Asked whether or not he planned to attend the game, Pickford said: “Yeah, well the fixtures have fallen into place so hopefully I can go and show my support.”
Then quizzed on the size of the game, he added: “In the country I don’t think there’s a bigger derby. I think its on par with Celtic-Rangers.
“It’s a great day out home and away for fans. The atmosphere is right up there for me.”
Sunderland vs Newcastle: A huge game for Eddie Howe
While it would be foolish to suggest Howe is under pressure even despite going out of Europe, losing at Sunderland would be such a huge blow.
Fail to win that and questions will need to be asked about where the squad is at the moment. Though we cannot expect Newcastle to go there and steamroll the Black Cats, the gulf in resources and League position put all the pressure on Howe’s side.
Losing that could indeed be season-defining.
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