Newcastle United v Sheffield United: Premier League – live!

20 min Shelvey’s long-range shot is charged down by Egan. Newcastle have been excellent in the last 10 minutes.

17 min Joelinton misses an excellent chance. He ran through on goal after a fine pass from Almiron, but the closer he got to Henderson, the less assured he looked. Eventually he tried to open his body and steer the ball across Henderson, but made a hash of it. The ball dribbled into Henderson’s hands and Joelinton fell on his face.

13 min Ritchie’s fierce 30-yard shot is pushed away by the flying Henderson. It was a good save, though one he’d expect to make.

12 min McBurnie’s header, from Baldock’s cross, bounces gently through to Dubravka.

10 min Almiron’s dangerous low cross towards Joelinton is put behind by Basham. Ritchie’s corner leads to a helluva scramble in the six-yard box before Sheffield United clear. Moments later, Saint-Maximin beats Stephens with a lovely stepover but his cutback is missed by Almiron (I think).

9 min Sheffield United are dominating the game, with Newcastle struggling to get out of their half at the moment.

6 min Norwood’s big, inswinging corner from the left just evades the leaping Robinson at the far post. It’s been a decent start from Sheffield United.

5 min Baldock zips between Saint-Maximin and Rose and is fouled. Fleck’s inswinging free-kick is headed away by Shelvey.

4 min Nothing to report yet. The fake crowd are in excellent voice though.

The players are out on the field. It’s a cloudy afternoon in St James’ Park, very pleasant conditions for football.

“Hey Rob,” says J.R. “Wouldn’t the Aston Villa v Sheffield United game four days ago qualify in the both-managers-in-charge-of-their-boyhood-club-derby category?”

Yes, yes it would.

“But just imagine when Robbie Keane becomes a manager. Every club he’ll be in charge of will have been his boyhood club. I’m here all week.”

Live football, while u wait

Newcastle United (4-2-3-1) Dubravka; Manquillo, Lascelles, Fernandez, Rose; Hayden, Shelvey; Ritchie, Almiron, Saint-Maximin; Joelinton.
Substitutes: Darlow, Schar, Krafth, Yedlin, Lazaro, Bentaleb, Carroll, Gayle, Muto.

Sheffield United (3-5-2) Henderson; Basham, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens; McBurnie, Sharp.
Substitutes: Moore, Jagielka, K Freeman, Lundstram, L Freeman, Osborn, Rodwell, Zivkovic, Mousset.

Referee David Coote.

Hello. During lockdown, Newcastle United became a moral compass, with endless chat about the rights and wrongs of their proposed takeover by a Saudi-based consortium. This afternoon, they revert to being a football club. This fixture at home to Sheffield United is their first since the 1-0 win at Southampton on 7 March, a game which, if I am to be honest, I had completely forgotten about.

That win moved Newcastle very close to safety, a fine effort from Steve Bruce given the limitations of his squad and the pathetic abuse he received at the start of the season. If he has had a good season, Chris Wilder has ejoyed a spectacular one. Sheffield United will move up to fifth if they win today, a level of overachievement that verges on the surreal.

This match is an endearing rarity, with both managers in charge of their boyhood club. I don’t have all the data to hand, or indeed any of it, but I can’t imagine that has happened too often in the Premier League era.

Kick off 2pm.