article: 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 .
highlights: Newcastle hope to avoid third defeat in a row when they face Sunderland .
  Papiss Cisse has scored 11 Premier League goals this season .
  10 of those have been decisive, and the Magpies would be in the relegation zone behind Sunderland without his goals .
prediction: Newcastle 
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