Cats boss weighing up huge derby decisions ahead of Magpies clash

There are Premier League matches, and then there is Sunderland versus Newcastle United.

- by James Copley

The tone changes. The air tightens. This one will be lived rather than watched.

Régis Le Bris stands at an interesting crossroads. He has two strikers with contrasting traits, multiple shapes that have worked in different ways, and a set-piece edge that could be a weapon-if Sunderland can outmanoeuvre the Mags.

The first big decision sits up front. Wilson Isidor has four goals in 15 league games. Brian Brobbey has two goals and one assist in 10, with significantly fewer minutes than Isidor.

For much of the season, Sunderland have rotated them on what has become, unofficially, a 60-30 system -one starts, the other finishes. Isidor carries recent wounds. The chance at Anfield lingers in the collective memory. At the Etihad, he engineered a chance himself through pressing, but shot straight at Donnarumma. Football can be cruel.

Brobbey, meanwhile, has scored more recently, against Arsenal. He won Sunderland three points against Bournemouth.

He brings muscle, holdup play, a bruising presence late in games when legs sag, and concentration loosens.

Isidor stretches defenders and runs behind. Brobbey pins them and wears them down.

One stresses space, the other stresses bodies. So what does Le Bris want the game to look like?

If he wants chaos, depth and transition, Isidor feels the pick. If he wants control, link play, and a reference point against a physically imposing defence, Brobbey has the edge.