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7 min: This corner leads to a small game of head tennis, and eventually the flag pops up for offside. Chelsea’s first sustained period of pressure comes to an end.
6 min: Willian earns the first corner of the game, bursting down the left and playing the ball off Fernandez. Chelsea take it short, working it back to Hudson-Odoi, who tears down the inside-left channel and wins a second corner, this time off Almiron.
5 min: So having said that, Newcastle build a patient attack, hogging the ball down the right flank. Eventually Almiron hooks a deep cross towards Saint-Maximin, who can’t keep his header, intended to flash back across goal from the left, in play.
4 min: Newcastle seem happy to sit back, coiled and ready to spring on the counter when they break up Chelsea’s attacks. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise: they’ve got the lowest possession percentage of any team in this season’s Premier League: 33.6%. Burnley are the next cab on the rank with a whopping 40.1%.
2 min: All a bit scrappy in the opening exchanges. Clark taking an aeon over a throw near the halfway line doesn’t help the early momentum.
Here we go, then! Chelsea get the ball rolling. A lively afternoon-spent-in-the-Strawberry atmosphere at St James’ Park. Long may it continue.
Howay the lads! The teams are out! Newcastle are in their famous black and white stripes, while Chelsea sport their storied royal blue. A quick blast of the theme from the greatest film ever made, and we’ll be off.
Here’s Frank Lampard, who has never lost to Steve Bruce in the Premier League either as a player or manager. It’s 14 wins and four draws from 18 games! “A lot of results Newcastle have got, and they’ve got some good results this year, have been in a certain way. So we can look at that. But they also have threats in forward areas. They have some danger as well.” He adds that they’ve been working on breaking down packed defences, admitting it’s something they occasionally struggle to do. As for the recall of N’Golo Kante? “It’s a good thing to have competition, so Ross Barkley can and should feel disappointed, and that’s part of my job. Everyone has to be on their toes and playing well.”
Steve Bruce talks! “It’s good to see the bigger players back. We have been up against it. I’ve never witnessed anything like the Leicester thing when we lost four players in 12 minutes. Let’s hope we stay fit and healthy. When your better players are not there, you’re up against it. Joelinton has been having a tough time, he’s got a goal the other night, so let’s hope it’s done the trick. He’s a good player. Almiron was the same, he’s now got four in the last six. So let’s hope that continues.”
Newcastle make six changes to the XI sent out against Rochdale in midweek. Martin Dubravka, Jonjo Shelvey, Ciaran Clark, Jetro Willems, Federico Fernandez and Allan Saint-Maximin are back; Karl Darlow, Florian Lejeune, Matt Ritchie, Christian Atsu and both Longstaffs step down.
Chelsea make one change to the team that beat Burnley 3-0 last Saturday. N’Golo Kante relegates Ross Barkley to a seat on the bench.
The teams
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Krafth, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Willems, Almiron, Hayden, Shelvey, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
Subs: Schar, Ritchie, Lejeune, Darlow, Atsu, Sean Longstaff, Matthew Longstaff.
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Christensen, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Willian.
Subs: Barkley, Pedro, Caballero, Zouma, Kovacic, Batshuayi, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).
Preamble
It’s hard to get a handle on these two teams. Newcastle started the Premier League season with five losses in their first nine. They then won six from 11, magically transforming themselves into a comfortable mid-table team. And now another slide: one point from the last 12 on offer. Thirteenth place in the table is about right, but they’ll have to start winning a few more games soon, or they’ll be back in the basement lickety split.
Chelsea aren’t exactly the most predictable either. Just two wins from their first eight fixtures in all competitions this season, followed by seven victories on the spin. In the last month or so they’ve been turned over by the likes of West Ham, Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton; during the same period they’ve also enjoyed big wins at Arsenal and Tottenham. Another curate’s egg of a side.
But Chelsea are in fourth spot despite it all, and will be favourites to prevail this evening. Not least because they’ve won six of the last seven matches between these two clubs, the exception being a final-day 3-0 breeze for Newcastle at the end of the 2017-18 season, when Antonio Conte’s head was elsewhere. Frank Lampard’s men have also had the week off to prepare, while Steve Bruce’s side were forced to replay their third-round FA Cup tie with Rochdale. The Toon will hope the mental boost of a 4-1 win will offset any physical consequences.
Kick off is at 5.30pm GMT. Saturday night prime-time entertainment is ON!
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