December is here, and it promises to be a gruelling month of fixtures that will really test the determination and depth of the squad across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League.
Besides big games against the likes of Manchester United, Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen, there’s also the small matter of the Tyne-Wear derby on the 14th: the first league derby since the 2015/16 season.
And there will be nothing sweeter than for Eddie Howe and the lads to secure a statement win against one of the (annoyingly) in-form sides in the league this campaign.
But it will no doubt be a very tough task ahead of us at the Stadium of Light; one certainly not helped by some leniency to rules and regulations for a number of Premier League teams including Sunderland…
Sunderland handed major AFCON boost
Sunderland are set to have all SEVEN of their African players available for the Tyne-Wear derby in just under a fortnight’s time.
The match on Sunday 14th December is the last game before each player jets off to play in this year’s African Cup of Nations, and Sky Sports’ Keith Downie reports that Sunderland have managed to ensure all seven will be available.
Initially, clubs had been expected to release their players roughly two weeks before the tournament kicked off, which would have ruled out the likes of Mozambique’s Reinildo, DR Congo’s Noah Sadiki and Burkina Faso’s Bertrand Traore for the derby.
But now, Premier League clubs are being allowed to hold onto their players for an extra week before releasing them for international duty on the 15th of December.
This means the following seven players will be available, if fit, for the Mackems:
- Burkina Faso: Bertrand Traoré (RW)
- DR Congo: Noah Sadiki (CM), Arthur Masuaku (LB)
- Ivory Coast: Simon Adingra (LW)
- Morocco: Chemsdine Talbi (RW)
- Mozambique: Reinildo (LWB)
- Senegal: Habib Diarra (CM)
Thankfully, AFCON is a non-issue for us, after it was confirmed on Monday that Yoane Wissa, the only African international in our squad, would not be travelling to Morocco for the tournament.
The Mail’s Craig Hope has previously hinted that, as Wissa’s return to fitness continues behind-the-scenes, that he could be fit just in time to play in the derby, which would be a very welcome boost.
Newcastle stars to miss derby?
Unfortunately, where Sunderland and Regis Le Bris can rely on having those seven African talents at their disposal, Howe may be without at least one senior player a week on Sunday.
Kieran Trippier is a big miss: even if he wouldn’t be the most likely starter with how good Tino Livramento has been since his own return from injury, the vice-captain’s leadership, mentality and big game experience would have been huge.
With the 35-year-old ruled out for a month just last week, it looks highly likely that the right-back will miss out, increasing our need to keep Tino and Lewis Hall fit over the next two weeks.
Sven Botman and Will Osula are difficult to call at the moment: the big Dutch defender is pencilled in to see a specialist over a back concern, meanwhile Osula has been dealing with an ankle issue with no prognosis on a projected return.
Thankfully however, we still have one of the strongest XIs in the club’s history fit and ready for whatever the derby will throw at it. Whilst the game on the 14th will no doubt be harder than the 3-0 FA Cup win from just under two years ago, having players such as Bruno Guimaraes, Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw should give us more than enough confidence to return to St James’ Park with all three points.