Thursday 7 April 2016 08:52, UK
Sunderland and Newcastle have endured a torrid time in the Premier League this season with both in the relegation zone with seven games to play.
Newcastle are 19th on 25 points while Sunderland are 18th on 27 points - four points adrift of Norwich and safety.
But the last seven games of a season can see huge changes in fortunes, and we've identified six reasons why both sides can yet have confidence of beating the drop.
It has been done before
History is on the side of both clubs. We have seen several teams in similar positions ensuring Premier League survival in the final stretch of the campaign.
Eleven teams have survived after being in Sunderland's position or worse. Newcastle, meanwhile, can draw inspiration from the three sides that had 25 points or less after 31 matches and remained in the top flight.
Two of those have come in the last two seasons. Sunderland picked up 13 points in the last seven games of the 2013/14 campaign to survive after being on 25 points with seven games left.
And last season, Leicester City took 16 points in the final seven games to ensure survival - and produced a platform for this season's amazing title charge.
Both of those sides, ended up finishing in 14th place, while in 2007/08 Fulham survived despite having only 23 points with seven games to play - two points fewer than Newcastle have now.
Managerial experience
As is the trend for struggling teams, there has been changes of manager at both clubs this season, but they both have bosses who are more than capable of steadying the ship.
Sam Allardyce has previous in steering teams away from the Premier League drop, doing so twice with Bolton in the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons as well as Blackburn in the latter half of the 2008/09 campaign.
The Sunderland boss also has plenty of promotion experience back to the top flight, doing so in recent memory with West Ham from the Championship as well Bolton in the 2000/01 season from the old Division One.
While never having faced a Premier League relegation battle, Rafa Bentiez does come with winning pedigree and the proven game plans to get important results when they are needed most.
This include Liverpool's legendary Champions League win in 2005 as well as lifting the Europa League with Chelsea in 2013, in both cases his tactics were credited with the trophy-lifting victories.
His arrival was welcomed by former Magpies manager John Carver, who told Goals on Sunday: "It's a brilliant appointment, and one of the best we've had in all honesty since Bobby Robson.
"It's a great coup for Lee Charnley and he's been under massive amounts of pressure, so he had to go and get somebody with the CV that Rafa has."
Match-winning forwards
While both defences have struggled this season, both Sunderland and Newcastle have the firepower in their ranks to pull them clear.
Jermain Defoe has not only done the business previously in the Premier League with West Ham, Tottenham and Portsmouth, but 2016 has seen him hit a fine vein of form.
The former England international scored five goals in January and has followed that up with two in his last three top-flight games - including the opener against Newcastle before the international break.
It was a late Aleksander Mitrovic strike that sealed a draw for Newcastle in the same game with a further brace against Norwich last weekend making it three goals in two games for the Serb.
"I said before that he has the potential," Benitez said of his striker after the Tyne-Wear derby. "We have to help him a little bit with better crosses, better deliveries and support and get closer to him, but he will score goals if we can do that.
"We are creating chances, we are attacking and we can be there, so we have to improve this part of the game and create more chances and Mitrovic or Papiss Cisse or the other strikers will score more goals and we will be fine."
The decline of Crystal Palace
One surprise of the relegation fight has been the decline of Crystal Palace, who could well take the place of Sunderland or Newcastle should they climb up the table.
After finishing in the top 10 last season, many suspected another comfortable mid-table season and up until Christmas, the Eagles were pushing for a place in Europe next term.
But former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has seen his current side play out a dramatic fall from grace and are without a Premier League win since December 19 - picking up nine losses and five draws.
They currently sit two places above the drop zone on 34 points and face Norwich just below them in the top flight this weekend - which could have huge implications for both north east sides.
Home advantage?
Both sides have a game in hand over Norwich but also have four home games out of seven that could prove to be the difference with passionate home support behind the teams to push them over the line.
Newcastle have the slightly easier pick of home ties, including fixtures against Crystal Palace and Swansea as well as an away trip to Aston Villa, but Manchester City and Tottenham also have to visit.
Sunderland's home games are tough, with Leicester and Arsenal on their way to the Stadium of Light but they also have favourable away trips to Watford and Norwich.
Huge six-pointers
Each side has a big relegation game against a team around them before the race is run.
Newcastle welcome Crystal Palace to St James' Park at the end of April but they will be hoping for a better showing than the reverse fixture where the Eagles thrashed them 5-1 in November.
Sunderland arguably have the closer encounter as they travel to Norwich next weekend with just four points currently separating the sides and a win for the Black Cats at Carrow Road could be huge for the relegation battle as a whole.
Allardyce himself knows the pressure is on his side to make up the ground against their rivals over the next few weeks, telling the official Sunderland club website after Saturday's draw with West Brom: "With seven games to go we have a game in hand and we have to play Norwich.
"The pressure on us increases but I just hope we continue to handle that pressure like we did on Saturday, and see it through to getting the victories we need.
"When we play Leicester it is a victory we need against a team at the top of the table, and then when we come up against Norwich it is probably a win we need again."
