Eddie Howe expecting heated Wear-Tyne clash with Sunderland: ‘It’s the most intense derby’ | OneFootball

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is relishing his first taste of a Premier League Wear-Tyne derby after establishing himself in the "hotbed" of north-east football.

Howe guided the Magpies to a 3-0 win over arch-rivals Sunderland, then a Championship side, in the FA Cup third round in January 2024, but will take his team to the Stadium of Light on Sunday for a first top-flight clash since March 2016.

He will do so with the Black Cats three places and one point better off than their neighbours after making a fine start to life back among the big boys following an absence of eight seasons, and expecting a white-hot atmosphere.

Head coach Howe said: "This is our first league experience, so I'll have a better gauge after, but I think it's probably the most intense derby game there is.

"The north-east is a hotbed for football, it's absolutely obsessed by the game. This is an intense rivalry, one that we respect and my main focus now is to make sure the players understand the importance of the game. I can assure everybody they will.

"I look at these games as positives. I want to experience the biggest games possible.

"You want to throw yourself into the biggest challenges possible, and I think this game will be one that we'll always remember, hopefully for the right reasons, hopefully because someone has made the difference and created a memorable moment for our supporters.

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Manager Eddie Howe is relishing a first taste of the derby in the Premier League (PA Wire)

"That's what we're chasing, that's what we want. We want to do them proud and make sure we represent them in the right way."

Howe arrived on Tyneside in November 2021 and has since written himself into Geordie folklore by guiding the club to a first domestic trophy in 70 years and into the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.

A derby victory over Sunderland would be celebrated almost as wildly and he admits he did not fully understand the intensity of the rivalry until he was embedded in the region.

He said: "I was aware of it before, but I think it's very different when you're seeing it from afar to actually living it and experiencing it yourself.

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Newcastle's fans will make the short trip to Sunderland (Getty Images)

"I'd seen many derbies on the TV and you can sense there's an intense rivalry there. That's a great thing for the game, I love that and I think it's one of the things that makes football so special.

"But then when you're here, you realise it's even much more than you thought from the outside. It'll be great to experience it in a league game."

Newcastle will arrive on Wearside having won none of the last nine league derbies, a run which includes six successive defeats, and that is a source of immense satisfaction for Sunderland fans, some of whom left an impression on Howe when he was official starter for the 2023 Great North Run.

He said with a smile: "The biggest stick I ever had was doing the Great North Run. I got abused by 50 per cent of the people there."