CRAIG HOPE: Newcastle waited for this derby for a decade - now they just want to get the points and get out of there alive. This is how Sunderland sent a jolt through the North East

This was the derby Newcastle had wanted for so long - yet now it’s here, it bears little resemblance to the one advertised in the pre-season brochure.

So much for six probable points and North East bragging rights restored at the expense of rivals headed straight back to the Championship. Speak to the Toon Army in Germany this week, and many would quietly accept the footballing equivalent of a truce and points shared.

Not that anyone will be calling for a ceasefire when the whistle sounds. This will be the nosiest, nastiest and most emotionally supercharged Stadium of Light derby since, well, the last one in the Premier League - they are rarely anything else.

Yet given the passage of a decade, this anticipation feels new and entirely raw. The previous longest wait between league derbies since World War Two was six years (1970-76). Last year’s FA Cup third-round tie, a 3-0 procession at the Stadium of Light for Newcastle, was a tepid imitation, given the gulf in class.

But that gulf has narrowed to the width of the Wear this season, and the confidence that once flowed down the Tyne has slowed to a nervous trickle. Sunderland are three places and one point above Newcastle in the table.

‘The derby has gone from a guaranteed six points to now playing a top-half Premier League side away from home,’ says Alex Hurst, host of the True Faith podcast.

This was the derby Newcastle had wanted for so long - yet now it’s here, it bears little resemblance to the one advertised in the pre-season brochure

Newly promoted Sunderland are three places and one point above Newcastle in the table

It's been 10 seasons since the last league derby, a 1-1 draw at St James' Park in March 2016 when Aleksandar Mitrovic cancelled out Jermain Defoe's opener

‘I wouldn’t have believed, after the FA Cup win nearly two years ago, that we would get to this game and feel like this. Their fans turned up out of duty that day and we were so much better. They’ll be going there with expectation this time.

‘When the takeover happened in 2021, we thought that was the end of the rivalry as we’d known it. That was as much to do with their issues at the time. Before that, the games were huge, during the period when we were fighting between 15th and 20th in the Premier League.

'This feels strange with them above us in the table. We would have expected this to be just like the FA Cup tie. We enjoyed that day. Now, we just want to go there, get the points and get out.’

More than 2,500 away fans will roll along Newcastle Road and towards the stadium under a heavy police escort on Sunday lunchtime. In 35 years of attending these derbies, I have always felt the atmosphere a little more intense - and vitriolic - on Wearside. It makes for a febrile occasion. Hurst agrees, and has his own theory as to why.

‘It means more to them than it does to us,’ he says. ‘It means a lot to us, don’t get me wrong, but the historical underdog element plays a part for them.

'You get the bus towards the ground and car dealerships have emptied and car salesmen are stood next to the road giving you grief! I don’t think you get that going the other way.’

Howe knows the feeling.

‘The biggest stick I’ve ever had was starting the Great North Run,’ he recalled of his 2023 role. ‘I got abused by 50 per cent of the runners!’

Newcastle fans take over the Stadium of Light in 2024 for the FA Cup third round tie - which the visitors dominated to win 3-0

'We would have expected this to be just like the FA Cup tie. We enjoyed that day. Now, we just want to go there, get the points and get out'

More than 2,500 away fans will roll along Newcastle Road and towards the stadium under a heavy police escort on Sunday

As for the football, Howe’s laugh was ambushed by a flicker of apprehension when reminded that Sunderland like to score late goals and his team, of late, like to concede them.

‘You can make more of that than it is,’ protested the Newcastle boss. ‘Yes, we know what we’ve done in recent weeks and the areas we need to improve. Yes, they’ve scored some late goals, but we have as well.

‘I don’t think we can change our character, we are what we are. We’re a really exciting team to watch and we play a style that hopefully people want to come and see.

'I think we do entertain, and with that comes some moments where we haven’t defended well enough this season. That’s not what we want to be, so we’ll endeavour to put that right.’

No Premier League team has lost more points from winning positions than Newcastle this season. In the Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen nicked a late 2-2 draw on Wednesday. Six times they have conceded in stoppage time.

‘The way we are right now, you’d be more confident of getting a result if we’re losing 1-0 on 75 minutes rather than winning 1-0,’ says Hurst. ‘But I still think we should be going there and winning. Every time under Howe, when the team have really needed a performance, they’ve turned up.’

Would Howe, like some supporters, take a draw? ‘No chance,’ he said. ‘We prepare every game to win. This will be no different. We’ve got to get the preparation right in a very short period of time. But by kick-off, I can assure everybody that we’ll be ready.’

But what awaits Newcastle? Rather than accept the fate prescribed by Newcastle fans and most outsiders, Sunderland spent £155million on 14 new signings in the summer. After 15 games, they are just three points shy of last season’s survival tally.

Sunderland spent £155million on 14 new signings in the summer. After 15 games, they are just three points shy of last season’s survival tally

It's more than 14 years since Newcastle last beat Sunderland in a league game, however, dating back to the 1-0 win in August 2011 thanks to Ryan Taylor's goal

But the FA Cup victory will sting on Wearside, so comfortable was it for Newcastle that day

‘This will be completely different to that FA Cup game,’ says Paul Dobson of the A Love Supreme fanzine. ‘Everything was wrong that day, on and off the pitch (the club decorated one bar black and white to accommodate Newcastle fans). We never dreamt so much would change in such a short space of time, but the owner and the club have got everything right these past couple of years. It has all fallen into place in an un-Sunderland-like fashion.

‘The manager, Regis Le Bris, is excellent and the signings have all hit the ground running - there’s not one duck egg amongst them. We look like we belong. I’m still apprehensive, because they’re a good side, they’re just not as good as us this season.

'We’ve got character and also the best and strongest tackler in the league with Trai Hume. He’s blood and thunder. We’re looking forward to him putting Anthony Gordon up in the air. Hume will set the tone. It’s been noisy at every game this season, but this will be a different level.’

So, does it mean more to Sunderland? ‘What a load of rubbish,’ says Dobson. ‘That’s typical of some Newcastle fans. They think they’re the biggest team in the world. Trust me, it means just as much to them.’

Come 2pm on Sunday, it will feel hard to disagree.