The bottom-placed Black Cats, on three points, are without a league win all season while Steve McClaren's visiting Magpies are only slightly better off on six points.
Newcastle did get off the mark in some style last weekend, however - beating Norwich City 6-2 at St James Park thanks to four goals from Georginio Wijnaldum. Nevertheless, this derby match will surely be a different sort of game to that open encounter.
Undoubtedly adding further spice to the proceedings is the recent appointment to the hot-seat at the Stadium of Light of Sam Allardyce.
The self-styled Big Sam - who played on Wearside in the 1980-81 season - actually becomes Sunderland's fourth 'permanent' appointment in 30 months.
Previously, of course, Allardyce also managed Newcastle for an eighth-month period in 2007 and 2008.
But he was dismissed from Gallowgate when a run of poor results could no longer absolve his horrendous style of football - so it is fair to say there is plenty of recent history then.
Moreover, Allardyce would love to extend the bizarre sequence in this fixture which has seen Sunderland, despite all their instability, reel off their all-time best run of five wins in a row.
Most recently, the Mackems prevailed on Easter Sunday this year when Jermain Defoe scored the only goal with a fine volley just before half time.
Yes, that victory equalled the all-time record held by Newcastle when the black-and-whites had the fortune of taking on two embarrassingly poor teams from Wearside between 2002 and 2006.
This time, on home turf - and with a potential new manager bounce - bookmakers' favourites Sunderland will strongly favour themselves to break the record.
For there can be no doubt that a new manager has assisted the Black Cats in their recent run of derby success.
Incredibly, Allardyce's predecessors Paulo di Canio, Gus Poyet, and Dick Advocaat all beat Newcastle in only their second respective games in charge of Sunderland - and this will also be Allardyce's second match.
A proud man - though many would say an equally vainglorious one - he would dearly love to be added to that list, and use it as a springboard to guide Sunderland to safety.
After all, he has his own record to protect - that of having never been relegated in more than 20 years of management.
Indeed, he retains a very high opinion of himself, claiming he still envisages himself one day taking charge of England, a position which was denied to him in 2006.
Coincidentally, it was McClaren who got the nod as national team boss instead - though his reign ended in defeat and humiliation, with a failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Now, McClaren - via Holland, Germany, Nottingham Forest, Holland again, and Derby County - has arrived at Newcastle and prepared for his first Wear-Tyne derby by sending an email to supporters.
"I don't need reminding that we have lost the last five
derbies and for everyone associated with the club that is simply
unbearable," McClaren wrote.
"It wasn't so long ago that we won five in row and we are
desperately keen and hugely motivated to turn the tide and bring the
points back to Tyneside.
"The atmosphere is always incredible and I
think unique to the North East and we have to go there, stand up and be
counted. There’s no question that our players understand what it means to win the derby."
Of course, McClaren has been able to approach the build-up to this match from an unfamiliar position of strength following the performance last Sunday.
For, while the three points against the Canaries did not take Newcastle out of the bottom three, the six goals tempered a swirling sense of discontent which a winless run inevitably brings.
Additionally, McClaren seems to be settling on a more consistent selection, particularly up front where new signing Aleksandr Mitrovic and Spanish whizz-kid Ayoze Perez look a troublesome pairing.
Indeed, Mitrovic could end up being the most important player on the pitch - but only provided he stays on it, of course.
Unfortunately, for Newcastle, there can be no guarantee of that especially if the Serbian is as easily wound up in a hostile atmosphere as he was in his first few games in England which included a sending off against Arsenal.
He has given his assurances, though - and so Sunderland may have to look elsewhere if they are to damage Newcastle
That will likely mean targeting a shaky defence with Allardyce-style direct play - for, even in the fine win against Norwich, the Magpies' rearguard struggled at times.
Also, Dutch keeper Tim Krul has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a severe knee injury sustained on international duty leaving Rob Elliott between the sticks.
But, equally, Sunderland have struggled at the back this term, both teams having conceded 19 times in their nine games so far.
Goals should be expected then - however, this will surely be a tighter, scrappier affair with the winning team, if there is one, succeeding only by a single goal.
It promises, as ever, to be a tense - though hopefully trouble-free - couple of hours.
ALL-TIME RECORD
| Goals | Draws | Goals | ||
| 224 | Sunderland 50 | 49 | 53 Newcastle United | 222 |
AT SUNDERLAND
| Goals | Draws | Goals | ||
| 104 | Sunderland 25 | 28 | 21 Newcastle United | 97 |
FIVE IN A ROW
| SUNDERLAND | NEWCASTLE UNITED | |||||||
| 14-Apr-2013 | won 3-0 (a) (Sessegnon, Johnson, Vaughan) | 24-Feb-2002 | won 1-0 (a) (Dabizas) | |||||
| 27-Oct-2013 | won 2-1 (h) (Fletcher, Borini) | 21-Sep-2002 | won 2-0 (h) (Bellamy, Shearer) | |||||
| 01-Feb-2014 | won 3-0 (a) (Borini (p), Johnson, Colback) | 26-Apr-2003 | won 1-0 (a) (Solano (p)) | |||||
| 21-Dec-2014 | won 1-0 (a) (Johnson) | 23-Oct-2005 | won 3-2 (h) (Ameobi 2, Emre) | |||||
| 05-Apr-2015 | won 1-0 (h) (Defoe) | 17-Apr-2006 | won 4-1 (a) (Chopra, Shearer (p), N'Zgobia, Luque) |
SEASON 2015/2016 SO FAR
| SUNDERLAND P9 W0 D3 L6 F8 A19 Pts 3 Top scorer: Defoe, Fletcher, Lens (2) | NEWCASTLE UNITED P9 W1 D3 L5 F12 A19 Pts 6 Top scorer: Wijnaldum (6) | |||||||
| 08-Aug | Leicester City (A) | 2-4 | 19th | 09-Aug | Southampton (H) | 2-2 | 7th | |
| 15-Aug | Norwich City (H) | 1-3 | 20th | 15-Aug | Swansea City (A) | 0-2 | 15th | |
| 22-Aug | Swansea City (H) | 1-1 | 20th | 22-Aug | Manchester United (A) | 0-0 | 16th | |
| 29-Aug | Aston Villa (A) | 2-2 | 20th | 29-Aug | Arsenal (H) | 0-1 | 18th | |
| 13-Sep | Tottenham Hotspur (H) | 0-1 | 20th | 14-Sep | West Ham United (A) | 0-2 | 20th | |
| 19-Sep | AFC Bournemouth (A) | 0-2 | 20th | 19-Sep | Watford (H) | 1-2 | 19th | |
| 26-Sep | Manchester United (A) | 0-3 | 20th | 26-Sep | Chelsea (H) | 2-2 | 19th | |
| 03-Oct | West Ham United (H) | 2-2 | 19th | 03-Oct | Manchester City (A) | 1-6 | 20th | |
| 17-Oct | West Bromwich Albion (A) | 0-1 | 20th | 18-Oct | Norwich City (H) | 6-2 | 18th | |
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