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Ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby, who are the 22 players that Alan Pardew and Paolo Di Canio should select?

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Alan Pardew has two teams to pick this week. Opposite number Paolo Di Canio will pick his second Sunderland team as head coach to face Pardew at St James’s Park.

So what would you do?

Forget the hype, which won’t be easy this week. Forget the records, forget the form.

Busy week: Alan Pardew's side face Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday and Sunderland on Sunday

    More from Colin Young...   Northern Exposure: Sunderland are still a club in transition with Paolo Di Canio ready to instill radical changes 15/05/13   Pardew denies Newcastle rift as Di Canio calls for 'nice' Sunderland to develop an edge... but both are at risk of relegation 03/05/13   Northern Exposure: How long can Di Canio's Sunderland honeymoon last? 23/04/13   NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Paolo and Pardew ride the North-East rollercoaster... but is one of them heading for oblivion? 17/04/13   Northern Exposure: Sunderland can't sweep this furore under the carpet, it would never have happened under Quinn's watch 03/04/13   Northern Exposure: Newcastle are flying in Europe but the main talking point is Pardew's beard! 14/03/13   Northern Exposure: The Toon Army are set for another long Europa League trip this week... but so are their opposition 05/03/13   Northern Exposure: Boro's form went down with the Christmas decorations leaving promotion hopes hanging by a thread 27/02/13   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE  

It will be the 22 men selected by the two men who will decide the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday, plus any substitutes who come on and make an impact.

Newcastle United’s injury-time win over Fulham has eased the anxiety of relegation. They need two more wins to stay up and claiming one of those wins against the local rivals would be rather nice.

They go into the midday showdown without that particular pressure, which has the potential to influence Pardew’s selection.

Unlike Sunderland, as they will be reminded on Sunday with the `have you ever seen a Mackem in Milan?’ chant – and if only they could all be that inoffensive and humorous – Newcastle have a huge European game this week.

Benfica come with a 3-1 lead, reward for their outstanding forwards who tormented Newcastle but needed two costly avoidable errors. In some ways it was an unfair reflection on Newcastle’s attacking prowess in the game, which exposed Benfica’s frail defence which is used to strolling through 90 minutes of Portuguese league football.

They may have an impressive record, but they couldn’t handle Sissoko and Cisse and, with a full St James’s Park, with its continental edge, Newcastle have to go for goals.

Pardew has appealed for patience from fans and players. He wants the continental approach and knows Benfica have the attacking players to kill the tie with an away goal. Attrition and determination may be the intention but they still need two goals.

The quandary for Pardew is whether to pick his strongest side for the task, or dip into the fringes of a squad which was moulded in January at considerable cost, presumably with a night like Thursday in mind. Just probably not three days before the derby.So does he go?Krul; Simpson, S.Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara; Gutierrez, Cabaye, Tiote, Marveaux; Sissoko; Cisse?Or is it more likely to be?Elliot; Simpson, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Perch; Obertan, Anita, Bigirimana, Marveaux; Sissoko; Shola Ameobi.I have a feeling he will play his strongest side on Sunday.

Cabaye got a big whack on his foot on Sunday, so he won’t be risked against Benfica, and Steven Taylor and Papiss Cisse could do with a break. It’s a European night. Made for Shola. And I do think James Perch will play, I just don’t know where, (to his absolute credit).

Passionate: Di Canio was on the touchline for the first time as Sunderland manager against Chelsea

Whatever side he picks, Pardew will believe they can pull off the win to get them in the semi-finals. It will be a very different atmosphere to Sunday, but it promises to be memorable. They will give it a real go, but if they fail, and win the derby, Newcastle fans will take that. They just expect both.The extra few days actually gives Pardew a slight advantage as his injured troops get time to recondition themselves for the run-in. Don’t be surprised to see Fabricio Coloccini, Mathieu Debuchy, Cheick Tiote, Massadio Haidara and even Hatem Ben Arfa come into contention by the weekend.

We don’t have the medical and physical reports of course, nor the eyes of the coaches in the build-up. But if they were all fit which team would you go with?

Krul; Debuchy, Taylor, Coloccini, Haidara; Gutierrez, Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa; Sissoko; Cisse.

No surprises that di Canio changed the team he inherited from Martin O’Neill for his first game at Stamford Bridge.

The biggest surprise was that Connor Wickham started, although perhaps the decision was taken out of the new boss’s hands by Danny Graham’s slight injury. The pair will be competing for the right to start against Newcastle.

Wickham did well at Chelsea but he clearly still lacks Graham’s Premier League experience and nous. Or the real desire to prove a point to both sets of supporters at St James’s Park.

Aerial battle: Branislav Ivanovic and Connor Wickham jump for a header

Sunderland haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory with their background research over the last ten days but you’d assume someone will have filled the new manager in on Graham’s background and difficult most recent history.

Di Canio will love the story and the idea of handing Graham an opportunity to silence his critics.

Matt Kilgallon returned from the shadows to replace Titus Bramble, and also did a reasonable enough job at the weekend to hold his place, despite the own goal. Bramble has been getting away with those all season.

James McClean was dropped to the bench, but looked lively when he came on at Chelsea, and the temptation must be to recall him to the side with Craig Gardner suspended.

It wasn’t just his tackle on Demba Ba which ruled him out of the derby, but the nine other bookings which preceded it. That bite will be sorely missed by Sunderland on Sunday and Di Canio must address the central midfield conundrum which O’Neill failed to resolve without the former Birmingham City midfielder. Jack Colback, Seb Larsson and Alfred N’Diaye are the main contenders now.

Yellow peril: Gardner claimed it was a fair tackle on Demba Ba- but the referee felt otherwise and cautioned him

Outraged: Gardner is disappointed to be ruled out of Sunday's crunch game against Newcastle

When Stephane Sessegnon walked off the Stamford Bridge pitch, di Canio grabbed him round the neck and talked animatedly into his ear. The midfield genius might not have understood all of it, but the general gist must have been that he is key to Sunderland’s survival hopes. No doubt the Italian will be talking to him a lot this week.

Di Canio will be under scrutiny and the question is can he handle the atmosphere of this derby. More importantly, can his players?

His choices are more limited than his opposite number but he has to pick a team which can cope. Which team will he choose?

Mignolet; Bardsley, O’Shea, Kilgallon, Rose; Larsson, N’Diaye; Johnson, Sessegnon, McClean; Wickham.

or

Mignolet; Bardsley, O’Shea, Kilgallon, Rose; Colback, N’Diaye; Larsson, Sessegnon, Johnson; Graham.

or

Mignolet; Bardsley, O’Shea, Kilgallon, Rose; Johnson, N’Diaye, Colback, McClean; Sessegnon; Graham.

Which would you choose?

  More... Ben Arfa could return to bench for Benfica... and is set to take on Sunderland in derby Halsey STILL grounded following failure to send McManaman off for horror tackle Di Canio's extreme methods must work fast for Sunderland to avoid the dreaded drop





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