Newcastle United brings Saturday’s Premier League action to a close as they host Chelsea at St James’ Park.
Depending on results earlier in the day, Newcastle could move into the top ten with a win, whilst Chelsea look to temporarily cut their gap to third-placed Leicester down to just three points.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesAllan Saint Maximin could return for Newcastle after missing the last month with a thigh injury suffered in early December.
Ki Sung-Yeung (knock), DeAndre Yedlin (knee), Yoshinori Muto (hip) and Fabian Schar (hamstring) could also be available for selection if they all pass late fitness tests.
Javier Manquillo, Paul Dummett, Dwight Gayle (all hamstring) and Jack Colback (knee) remain ruled out.
Chelsea could welcome Marcos Alonso back from a glute muscle injury which has sidelined him so far in 2020.
Christian Pulisic (adductor) could return next weekend but N’Golo Kante (hamstring) joins Marco van Ginkel (knee) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles) on sidelines.
Form
Newcastle come into this game with just four points from their last six league matches (W1, D1, L4), but saw their eight home league game run of scoring goals ended on New Year Day in a 3-0 loss to Leicester.
Chelsea have taken seven points from their last three league outings after earning just six points from their previous seven beforehand, although they lost their last two trips North against Manchester City and Everton.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle have won just one of their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (W1, D1, L6).
- Three of Chelsea’s last five league goals against Newcastle have come from wingers (Pedro, Willian, Eden Hazard).
- Chelsea have won on just one of their last six trips to St James’ Park (W1, D1, L4), in which Newcastle scored at least once during each of those matches.
- Newcastle are yet to win a penalty against Chelsea in 49 previous Premier League meetings, whereas the Blues have scored four of their five penalties in that time.
- Martin Dubravka has made a league-high 90 saves for Newcastle in 22 league appearances this season.
Prediction
Chelsea have finally rediscovered their best form so this will be a huge test given their poor away form at Newcastle, who will be buzzing after a dominant FA Cup home replay win over Rochdale in midweek.
I therefore am expecting a strong performance from both teams, although Martin Dubravka is going to be Chelsea’s biggest concern out of the entire Newcastle team given his excellent goalkeeping performance this season.
A draw therefore might be a good bet but with Miguel Almiron in good form and coming off the back of midweek, Newcastle might well produce the surprise result of this weekend.
Prediction: Newcastle United 2-1 Chelsea