Chelsea host Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on the final day of 2022-23 Premier League season.
Victory would see Chelsea finish 11th if Crystal Palace loses elsewhere, whilst Newcastle can finish third with a win if Man Utd slip up at home to Fulham
Team News
Raheem Sterling is ruled out for Chelsea after he missed their defeat at Manchester United in midweek, due to a hamstring injury.
Mason Mount (groin) is doubtful for selection and faces a late fitness test.
Marcus Bettinelli (unspecified), Ben Chilwell, Reece James (both hamstring), Marc Cucurella (quad), Benoit Badiashile, N’Golo Kante (both groin) Mateo Kovacic (knock) and Armando Broja (knee) remain absent.
Newcastle will be without goalkeeper, Nick Pope after he needed hand surgery which means that Martin Dubravka could start in goal.
Joelinton (knock) and Javier Manquillo (muscle) are also sidelined with manager – Eddie Howe opting not to risk the pair in West London.
Jamaal Lascelles (calf), Joe Willock (hamstring), Ryan Fraser (personal), Emil Krafth and Matt Ritchie (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Newcastle at Stamford Bridge in a 4:30pm BST kick-off on Sunday 28 May, albeit untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have lost three of their last ten meetings against Newcastle (W7, L3).
- Newcastle have lost each of their last nine league visits to Chelsea (L9).
- Eddie Howe’s Magpies are looking to do the league double over Chelsea for the first time in the Premier League era, having last done so in 1986-87 season.
- Chelsea have won just one of their last nine league matches at home (W1, D4, L4)
- Newcastle are unbeaten on their league travels in London this season (W4, D2), although they failed to keep clean sheets during their four wins.
Prediction
Following a disastrous campaign largely spent in mid-table, this game for Chelsea is now about not finishing as London’s worst top-flight team of this season which is bizarre yet extraordinarily embarrassing to be thinking about.
In fact the only phrase to sum up the Blues’ season is ‘wasteful end product’ because they have been just woeful in their finishing, which again proved their downfall at Man Utd so they simply need a lucky result here to get any sort of confidence to take into the summer.
With Champions League qualification and a top-four finish guaranteed after being frustratingly held to a goalless draw by a resilient Leicester defence, Newcastle meanwhile can treat this game as a celebration of their achievement plus potential farewell for some fringe players.
As for Eddie Howe, this is a chance for him to experiement tactically ahead of the summer transfer window and assess his fringe players with one eye on how to best prepare his squad for a huge campaign next season to build upon their progress so far.
I am therefore expecting the Magpies to be slightly weaker in selection than normal but given Chelsea’s current mess, this is the perfect time for Newcastle to end their away hoodoo and provide them with more confidence going into next season.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Newcastle
Result: Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle
Leave a Reply