IT is a rivalry that stretches back more than 130 years, but in all that time, the shared history of Newcastle United and Sunderland has rarely seen a week quite like this.

If Sunderland beat Everton at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday, they will confirm their Premier League survival and condemn Newcastle to the Championship.

Even if the Black Cats fail to claim the win they require in two days’ time, they will still have another opportunity to relegate their rivals when they travel to Watford for Sunday’s final game of the season.

If Newcastle are to survive, they have to beat Tottenham on the final day and hope Sunderland do not claim more than a point from their remaining two matches. There is a scenario whereby Newcastle could still survive if Sunderland claim two draws, but it would require a nine-goal win over Spurs.

After a season of toing and froing, the pendulum swung decisively in Sunderland’s favour on Saturday when they twice came from behind to claim a 3-2 win over Chelsea while Newcastle were labouring to a goalless draw at bottom club Aston Villa.

As a result, the Black Cats’ fate is now firmly in their own hands, and while Sam Allardyce is refusing to take anything for granted given the twists and turns he has already experienced during his six months on Wearside, he accepts his players are now firmly in the box seat.

“Nothing can be predicted in this season, more than any season,” said Allardyce, after goals from Wahbi Khazri, Fabio Borini and Jermain Defoe enabled Sunderland to claim their first home win since mid-February. “It’s the opposite that keeps happening.

“Everybody thought it was going to be an easy victory for Newcastle and a tough game for us, but they’ve only drawn with Aston Villa and we’ve beaten Chelsea.

“We’ve beaten Chelsea by coming from behind twice. It’s something we’ve never done this season, so we’ve achieved a minor miracle in that statistic by coming back and beating such a big side as Chelsea on the occasion we needed to most.”

With Sunderland’s fans having reached fever pitch in the closing stages of Saturday’s game, Allardyce is calling on them to raise the roof again when Everton visit on Wednesday.

“The fans know what’s needed, and they’ve helped the club stay up because of their support in the last few years, no doubt about that,” he said. “Again they’re in a position where they don’t want to be, but it was a full house when you’re fighting against relegation. It’s pretty miraculous for a football club.

“You would think they would get a bit disgruntled and say, ‘I’m not wasting my money going to watch that rubbish’. But they’ve not – they’ve stayed with us with a fight. We’re fighting all the way, and they’re up for the fight with us.”

Newcastle’s fans will simply have to watch and wait in two days’ time, and Rafael Benitez accepts his side suffered a potentially fatal blow as they failed to adequately lift themselves at Villa Park.

Having produced a series of improved displays in recent weeks, Newcastle reverted to type against the worst team in the division and could now find themselves playing for nothing in their final game.

“It can still be done, although obviously it depends on them (Sunderland) more than us now,” said Benitez. “We cannot control what they will do. We had to win here (against Aston Villa), but we weren’t able to do that. We drew and they won, so that is why we find ourselves in a bad position

“The only thing we can do is make sure that if we are in a position where we are playing against Tottenham with a chance to stay up, we are ready to win. We have to believe that Everton will play a good game and get the result, so we can still fight in the last game.”

During his time as Liverpool manager, Benitez controversially branded Everton a “small club”, words that have not be forgotten on the blue side of Merseyside.

Everton hardly looked like a side bursting with motivation as they crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Leicester at the weekend, but Benitez is confident they will give their all at the Stadium of Light.

“Everton is a team that have very good professionals and they will try to win,” he said. “They have been doing well in their away games, so we just have to wait and believe that they can get a result.

“If they do, then the most important thing is that we are ready to take advantage of that. We need them to do their job, but then we have to do our job as well in the final game.”