Newcastle United's women's team travel to South Shields to face Durham in the Subway Players Cup, while Sunderland host Sheffield United at Eppleton, with both north east clubs still searching for their first points in the competition.
Newcastle Seek First Cup Points
Both Newcastle and Durham have yet to earn a point in the Champions League-style competition, and with this game plus two more to follow, they will hope to move out of the bottom two places in Group A. Newcastle lost their 100 per cent record in the league last weekend, fighting back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest. That result, along with a recent cup loss to Sunderland, may worry some fans, but they still sit top of the WSL 2.
Durham scored two late goals but were beaten 4-2 at Watford, leaving them bottom of the WSL 2 table without a league point. The cup fixture against their local rivals may offer a chance to turn their fortunes around.
Repeat of October Fixture
This is a repeat of the fixture from the beginning of October, when Newcastle won 3-0 at Durham. Goalkeeper Anna Tamminen, who made several key saves that afternoon, is struggling with an injury, and Newcastle have brought in 19-year-old Welsh international Soffia Kelly from Aston Villa on an emergency loan in her place.
Sunderland, who lost their unbeaten league record last weekend with a 3-1 defeat at Ipswich Town, welcome Sheffield United with a better chance than their neighbours to progress in the cup. Despite going down to 10 players away at Ipswich, Mel Reay's team kept fighting and caused problems until the end.
Qualification Hopes
A win over the Blades could lift Sunderland into the top eight positions of the Players Cup league table, which would be enough to qualify for the quarter-finals.
