It's derby weekend, if you're stretching the term derby!

Friday night sees Newcastle Red Bulls make the trip to the north west midlands....to take on Sale Sharks in what's part of Gallagher Prem's derby weekend.

Things don't get any easier for Red Bulls

After a disappointing trek to Devon last weekend to take on Exeter and coming back with nothing, things don't get any easier for Red Bulls as they go to Manchester to take on Sale and their northern powerhouse pack.

Sharks set to bite

Alex Sanderson has named a strong looking side with Luke Cowan-Dickie named for the first time this season alongside Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour in a powerful front row. Ben and Tom Curry both miss out for Sale through injury in a bit of relief for Red Bulls but it's still a formidable Sale looking side. Gus Warr and George Ford will direct the team from half back. For the second weekend in a row there's an exciting back three in opposition with Arron Reid, Tom Roebuck and Joe Carpenter who always impress when they're on the ball.

Bench power

Keep an eye on ex-Harlequin Nathan Jibulu at replacement hooker who is lively around the park. Another one who came onto the scene and then has struggled with injury is Raffi Quirke who will be desperate to make an impact.

Can Red Bulls live with the physical challenge

Sale are a powerful side and although they'll be disappointed with their result as Bath last weekend they put in one hell of a shift to keep Bath out for long periods but that took its toll. They'll look to their powerful forwards game through the set piece to build a platform and allow their backs to fly.

Changes for Red Bulls

Adam Brocklebank and Richard Palframan come into the front row to hopefully give some stability in the face of a strong Sale scrum. Fergus Lee-Warner makes his first start coming in at blindside flanker with Cameron Neild dropping to the bench. At fly half Boeta Chamberlain comes in for Brett Connon who drops to the bench, Red Bulls fans will be hoping he can get the back line going. Max Clark being back and available is a big boost in the centre, he never lets anyone down when he's in the team. Finally Ethan Grayson moves to full back to allow Elliott Obatoyinbo to move to the wing. On the bench there will be a first welcome appearance for Simon Bentiez Cruz who has gone really well for Argentina.

Reality for Red Bulls

You have to look at the players unavailable for various reasons and this gives some excitement as to what's to come but also you have to be realistic as to what to expect.

Arnold, Bello, Cardall, Christie, Coetzee, De Bruin, Grayson, Stuart, Wade and Williams would all be in and around that first team squad and so would Davis potentially as the season goes on. I know injuries and unavailability happens but there's some experience that would be welcome on the pitch there.

What to expect?

Realistically Sale are going to try and bully Red Bulls into submission and grind them down. If the forwards do that then it will allow the backs to run riot. Can Red Bulls counter this and how do they do it?

You'd be ill advised to get into a physical battle with Sale. Maybe the best thing to do is try and play loose and quick and catch them off guard. Try and get the four tries to take something back to Kingston Park and into Northampton game week with something to work with.