Newcastle will be keen to avoid a third defeat on the spin when they take on rivals Sunderland in Sunday ’ s crunch derby after floundering in recent weeks without banned striker Papiss Cisse . It is Dick Advocaat ’ s side who are struggling at the foot of the Barclays Premier League table – sitting perilously one point above the bottom three - but Sportsmail can reveal that John Carver ’ s team would be two points ADRIFT of their foes in the relegation zone if it weren ’ t for Cisse ’ s goals . The Senegal forward is Newcastle ’ s top scorer this season with 11 goals , with 10 of those decisive in changing games in the Magpies ’ favour . Papiss Cisse is Newcastle 's top scorer this season with 11 goals - 10 of those were decisive . 20 September Hull ( h ) 2-2 ( 2 goals ) 4 October Swansea ( a ) 2-2 ( 2 goals ) 2 December Burnley ( a ) 1-1 ( 1 goal ) 6 December Chelsea ( h ) 2-1 ( 2 goals ) 26 December Man Utd ( a ) 1-3 ( 1 goal ) 28 December Everton ( h ) 3-2 ( 1 goal ) 11 February Crystal Palace ( a ) 1-1 ( 1 goal ) 28 February Aston Villa ( h ) ( 1 goal ) Since his double against Hull rescued a 2-2 draw in September , Cisse has earned Newcastle 11 points with his goalscoring heroics — almost single-handedly lifting them to mid-table . Take those goals away and the Premier League reads somewhat differently . Newcastle languish in 18th place on 24 points in the fantasy table behind Sunderland on 26 . They would have scored just 22 times — the second fewest in the division behind Aston Villa — and won only six games . Six of Cisse ’ s strikes have been against sides in the bottom half and Burnley , Hull , Everton , and Villa would have leapfrogged a Newcastle side shorn of the striker . After his brace against Steve Bruce ’ s side , Cisse scored another double to clinch a 2-2 draw against Swansea two weeks later . His next goal was a second-half equaliser in a 1-1 with Burnley in December and , four days later , hit another two to seal a 2-1 victory over Chelsea . Later that month he netted in a 3-2 triumph over Everton while in February he scored against his former manager Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw . Cisse also supplied the cutting edge to snatch a 1-0 victory against Villa . The Senegalese striker is currently serving a seven-game ban after clashing with Jonny Evans . 5 April Sunderland ( a ) 13 April Liverpool ( a ) 19 April Tottenham ( h ) 25 April Swansea ( h ) 2 May Leicester ( a ) His only goal which hasn ’ t had affected the outcome of a match was a late consolation penalty in a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Boxing Day . Even when Cisse hasn ’ t found the net , however , he still has a beneficial impact . Newcastle have a points-to-games ratio of 1.37 when the striker plays but just 0.9 when he doesn ’ t . In reality , there is little cause for concern as Carver ’ s side currently sit 10 points clear of the drop zone . But after their trip to the Stadium of Light they will face top-four chasing Liverpool and Tottenham in the coming weeks . Newcastle will be hoping they aren ’ t looking over their shoulders when Cisse returns for their final three games of the campaign . Cisse nets against Burnley at Turf Moor , a goal that saw Newcastle earn a point in December .
Newcastle hope to avoid third defeat in a row when they face Sunderland . The Magpies have won their last two games and are now just one point behind leaders Manchester City with five matches remaining.