Newcastle centre-back Steven Taylor stoked the fires before the Tyne-Wear derby this weekend by claiming that not one Sunderland player would be able to make it into the Magpies starting eleven. The dogs amount of abuse he received during the game, which in a rich quirk saw him start on the bench himself, saw the Mackems fans show him exactly what they thought of that statement, but does he have a point?

Alan Pardew’s side have started the season in indifferent form claiming just ten points from their opening eight league games, while Sunderland sit three places lower with a game in hand and eight points from seven games. The derby game itself was a tenacious, passionate affair, as you might expect and the Cheick Tiote’s red card in the first half surely had an impact on the result.

The 26-year-old defender told the Daily Mail, with his tongue firmly in cheek on the subject if there were any of Martin O’Neill’s squad he would have wanted: “Not one player. That is the quality we possess. It is all very well having that but we have to go out and deliver. It is all right saying, ‘Yes, the teamsheet looks great’, but you have to perform.”

Let’s take a look at the options in both squads then and try to make some sort of objective starting eleven combining the two. First off, I don’t not support either of the teams involved, nor do I have an preferences or vested interest, so any claims of bias couldn’t be further wide of the mark if they tried.

Starting with the goalkeeper, we have two decent options to choose from in Simon Mignolet and Tim Krul – they’re both international goalkeeper in their own right for Belgium and Holland and both are fantastic shot-stoppers who could perhaps be a little bit better at dominating their area and coming to claim aerial balls into the box.

Last term Krul played in 38 games and kept 15 clean sheets, letting in 51 goals whereas Mignolet made 29 appearance keeping 11 clean sheets and letting in 33 goals, which is once again pretty difficult to pick between. Krul faced 535 shots, which means he let in a goal every 10.4 efforts which he had to deal with, but Mignolet did slightly better by facing 44 shots and conceding a goal just every 13.4 efforts.

This of course doesn’t take into account where the shots came from, against who and what kind of saves were made, so it’s far from scientific, but it seems that Mignolet did slightly better so he gets the nod, given that Krul’s injuries this term mean it would be unfair to judge it on this season alone.

At right-back, Sunderland don’t really have the greatest of options available with Craig Gardner, Phil Bardsley and John O’Shea being used there this season, but Danny Simpson is better getting up and down the wing while being sound positionally, so he’s chosen. At left-back, Danny Rose and Davide Santon are the two options – the former is positionally inept at times and still looks very raw while Santon has been one of the Magpies better performers so far this term and is a model of consistency, so he take the spot on offer.

Moving on to centre-back, Fabricio Coloccini is an absolute must, with his performance after coming back from injury exceptional against Sunderland at the weekend. Alongside him, we have Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson, John O’Shea and Carlos Cuellar to pick from. I’m still to be convinced by O’Shea at centre-half, while there’s a sense that Williamson can be got at despite his aerial prowess. Cuellar has been in fine form since making his move but Taylor is a little better on the ball so I’ll plump for him by a slim margin.

In midfield, Sunderland don’t have anything in the middle of the park to get past one of the best central midfield partnerships in the top flight in Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye, and they compliment one another fantastically. On the right, Hatem Ben Arfa’s ability to dribble past people floating in off the flank makes him a nightmare to track and his creativity marks him out as one of the Premier League’s best talents when he’s on form and he easily takes a starting place.

The left of midfield is once again a difficult one to pick with Jonas Gutierrez, James McClean and Adam Johnson to choose from given that I’m not sold on any of them yet. Gutierrez is one-dimensional and poses little attacking threat some of the time while Johnson seems to have a reputation that doesn’t match his ability and possesses that rare ability of always seeming threatening without ever actually being threatening and McClean is occasionally brilliant and direct but can sometimes drift in and out of the game.

They’re all pretty one-footed too, but I’ll give Johnson the nod, even if he has a huge point to prove at Sunderland this term in a consistent starting spot simply because he has more ability to go past a man in a one-on-one situation and with Ben Arfa on the other side, I’d prefer a touchline-hugging winger on the other to keep the balance and shape of the side.

Up front is where it gets really interesting with £15m man Steven Fletcher in sublime form since moving to the north east and he’s scored all but one of their league goals so far this season. Stephane Sessegnon was brilliant last campaign but has struggled to shine in the same way this year and the same goes to Papiss Cisse, while Demba Ba looks every inch a form player who blows hot and cold more than my shower does.

Do we pick solely on current form? Or do we judge it purely on ability? Fletcher’s movement off the ball and ability to get ahead of his marker is an understated yet crucial quality and while he’s a threat in the air, on the deck he’s a handful too when the ball is alive, so I’ll stick him in, as he’d thrive on the service provided.

There’s a strong temptation to stick Sessegnon behind him and watch him dovetail with Ben Arfa in those deeper lying positions just off the flank and through the middle but Demba Ba’s sheer physical presence offers the side more options at the moment and it’s hard to see whether Cisse is merely a flash in the pan or going through a poor patch at the moment.

My Final Newcastle-Sunderland Combined Team: Mignolet; Simpson, Coloccini, Taylor, Santon; Cabaye, Tiote Ben Arfa, Johnson; Ba, Fletcher.

Subs bench, for the sake of having one: Krul, Cuellar, Bardsley, Larsson, McClean, Sessegnon, Cisse.

Feel free to disagree with me and name your combined eleven below. What would your team look like?

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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