Date: Saturday 25th
November 2023
Venue: St James’ Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Our first game back after the international break
sees us travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle.
Newcastle’s seven game unbeaten run came to an end
before the break, with defeat against Bournemouth, leaving them seventh in the
table as injuries started to bite. They’ll have been glad of the break, to give
players time to recover, whilst for us, it was a break we could probably have
done without. With a win against Sp*rs and a draw against City, it felt like we
might just have been gathering some sort of momentum – or at least we’d managed
to string some pretty convincing performances together to lift ourselves up to
the dizzy heights of 10th place.
The Magpies are a tough side to face at home,
winning the last four there, whilst we definitely haven’t found St James’ Park
a happy hunting ground, losing 13 times there in the Premier League. We’ve lost
just one of our last eight in all competitions, scoring 20 goals in the process
but goals are hard to come by in this particular fixture, so I wouldn’t be
expecting us to pick up where we left off before the break.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going
into today’s game, Newcastle manager Eddi Howe, says “Our home form has been very strong; we have had some good
results against some top sides. You look back at our last league game here
against Arsenal, and it was a very strong performance, full of discipline and
quality. Another performance and atmosphere like that would be more than
welcome. There is a determination to put the Bournemouth result to bed.
They [Chelsea] have a great manager,
someone who has been in the Premier League before and he can develop young
players – full credit to him and the job he has been doing. I think he is a
really good fit for Chelsea, and they are improving every week. We know it is
going to be a real test. I think as much as you can look at that, they’ve
scored eight goals in two games. OK, against Tottenham, it was well documented
what happened in that game. But (they have scored) eight goals against
Tottenham and Manchester City. I think we’re seeing a team with outstanding
players and an outstanding manager now beginning to gel and find their form. For
us, of course we’ll look at them, analyse their strengths and any areas where
we could potentially hurt them, as we will with every opposition.”
Chelsea
manager Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, says “We were not consistent in the first
period of this competition, I tried to think why. We are good against teams like Arsenal and
Liverpool and struggle to compete with teams with less quality than us that
play in a different way. That is all
part of the process, we are a young team that started working four months ago.
We have a team [Newcastle United] that is
going to be really strong and tough. It is a team that has built for the
Champions League, which is our aim for next season. Which is why it is going to
be tough.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Newcastle,
Sven Botman (knee), Callum Wilson, Matt Targett (both hamstring), Harvey
Barnes (foot), Javi Manquillo (groin), Dan Burn, Elliot Anderson (both back),
and Jacob Murphy (shoulder) are injured. Alexander Isak (groin) and Sean
Longstaff (ankle) remain doubts and Lewis Hall is unable to play, whilst Sandro
Tonali is suspended. Miguel Almiron (thigh), Fabian Schar (hamstring) and
Kieran Trippier are all available for selection, and Bruno Guimaraes returns
after serving a one-match ban.
For Chelsea, Wesley
Fofana (knee), Christopher Nkunku (knee), Romeo Lavia (ankle), Ben Chilwell
(Hamstring), Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring), and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) all remain
unavailable. Levi Colwill (shoulder) and Malo Gusto (knee) have both recovered
from injury, whilst Conor Gallagher (ankle) should also be available.
TEAMS
NEWCASTLE (Possible line-up): Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento; Longstaff, Guimaraes,
Willock; Almiron, Gordon, Joelinton
CHELSEA
(Possible line-up): Sanchez; James, Disasi, Silva,Cucurella; Fernandez,
Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Jackson, Sterling
LAST SEASON
Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea
(12 November 2022)
CURRENT FORM (PL)
NEWCASTLE: WDWDWL
CHELSEA: WWDLWD
OTHER STUFF
- Newcastle took 4 points off Chelsea last season, after
losing seven of their previous eight against us.
- Chelsea have lost 13 Premier League games at St.
James’ Park.
- Newcastle could win five successive top-flight home
games without conceding a goal.
- Chelsea have won three consecutive Premier League
away games.
- Newcastle have lost four of their 12 top-flight
fixtures this season.
- Chelsea have scored four times in three of their
past five league fixtures, including both of their last two away.
- Newcastle are yet to lose a Saturday Premier League
game at 3pm under Howe.
- Chelsea’s six Premier League matches since the
start of October have produced the most goals of any club in that period, with
16 scored and 10 conceded.
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Newcastle 1-1 Chelsea
