Newcastle United have played some big games this season.
Indeed, a particularly difficult Champions League draw saw Newcastle pitted against such storied names in Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund.
Their Carabao Cup campaign, meanwhile, threw up Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea as opponents.
While Eddie Howe’s side largely acquitted themselves well against all of those big clubs, perhaps the major test is yet to come.
Sunderland, of course, cannot rival any of those for League position or resources but Newcastle’s arch rivals offer an entirely different challenge.
A hugely emotionally-charged affair, the pressure is off the Black Cats ahead of the FA Cup trip to the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The game also comes at a particularly bad point for Newcastle. So poor away from home all season, they remain without key players and the injury curse seems to have struck again.
Newcastle team news vs Sunderland: Callum Wilson latest
Callum Wilson will miss the game.
The striker sat out of the loss at Liverpool on New Year’s Day and Howe has now confirmed he will play no part for the trip to Sunderland.
“Callum will be missing the next two games,” he said (via The Athletic).
Callum Wilson injury: More frustration for Newcastle
Though hailed as “incredible” on his day, Wilson’s fitness remains a source of huge frustration.
Already this season, the 31-year-old has missed nine games.
Though he remains capable of scoring goals, the regular lack of availability puts more pressure on Alexander Isak to play every game and the Swede is not without a patchy injury record himself.
A new forward is believed to be on the agenda during this month’s transfer window, albeit FFP constraints may make actually signing one difficult.
With Wilson approaching his 32nd birthday anyway even regardless of his fitness, it certainly makes sense.
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