The magic of The FA Cup – The return of the Tyne-Wear derby

Sunderland will host Newcastle for the first Tyne and Wear derby since 2016 with the sides facing off in the FA Cup in January.

The last meeting between the pair was a 1-1 draw, with Sunderland dominating the fixture in the years before with their famous six in a row.

You would have to go back to 2011 for the Magpie’s last victory, a 1-0 win at the Stadium Of Light courtesy of Ryan Taylor’s famous freekick.

The scores are all level on the head-to-head front with both teams winning 53 games a piece and 49 draws between them.

A lot has changed in the seven years since the last fixture, Newcastle were relegated and promoted again before a controversial takeover, a cup final and Champions League football returned to Tyneside.

Sunderland fell to League One with back-to-back relegations, multiple takeovers, and many failed promotion attempts before eventual promotion back to the Championship. They nearly returned to the Premiership last season at their first attempt but lost out to Luton in the playoffs.

Newcastle would be the likely favourites given the gap in quality between the two squads, but anything can happen in football and even more so in the Tyne and Wear derby.

The Magpies will be without goalkeeper Nick Pope after it was announced he will be out for up to five months with a shoulder injury picked up against Manchester United.

Sunderland are currently without a manager after the surprise departure of Tony Mowbray after 18 months on Wearside, fans will be hoping Mowbray’s successor is appointed sooner rather than later with a crucial festive run-in and the January transfer window on the horizon.

The tie has not yet been given a set date or kick-off time, but all third-round ties will be played either on the weekend of January 6, 2024.

It’s been a long time coming for fans of both teams and hopefully, we won’t have yet another seven-year wait for the next meeting between the two sides.