Newcastle vs Chelsea preview
Jose Mourinho hopes to finally end his St James’ Park woes when he takes the champions to Newcastle for a league encounter with Steve McClaren’s men on Saturday.
Mourinho has famously visited the St James’ Park five times without a win in a run stretching back to his first stint as Chelsea manager, more than a decade ago.
His last trip to Newcastle saw Alan Pardew’s men claim a 2-1 victory, which ended Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the 2014/15 season. Chelsea were flying then and went on to win the Premier League title with a comfortable margin despite the defeat. This time Mourinho’s men have to get it right.
The Blues’ title defence had a boost last weekend after Manchester City lost 1-2 to West ham, while the champions defeated Arsenal 2-0. That still left the Blues with an eight-point gap to cover, so there is little room for more slip-ups.
After a horrible start to the season, the Blues have now managed to stitch together a few wins, starting with a 4-0 thumping of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League, followed by the 2-0 derby victory over the Gunners and the 4-1 humbling of Walsall in the League Cup.
While Chelsea’s season is now showing green shoots of recovery, the Magpies’ campaign seems to be heading the opposite direction. Newcastle secured decent draws with Southampton and Manchester United plus a League Cup win in their first four games, which gave a sense of optimism that the side would have a solid campaign once the new signings had settled in.
All the optimism has now been replaced with fear for the worst after four straight defeats. McClaren tried to end the rot in the midweek Capital One Cup encounter against Sheffield Wednesday by selecting a strong side, including most of the expensive players they bought during the close-season.
But the Championship side defeated Newcastle at St James’ Park with virtually a reserve team that had 10 regulars rested. After the defeat, McClaren and his men were booed by the fans and the Magpies boss admitted that his charges are close to a crisis.
Newcastle United team news
- Massadio Haidara (knee) recently joined Cheikhou Tiote (knee), Sylvain Marveaux (groin), Paul Dummett (hamstring), Curtis Good (thigh), Emmanuel Riviere (knee) and Steven Taylor (hamstring) who are all sidelined through injury.
- Jack Colback (calf), Daryl Janmaat (illness) and Papiss Cisse (back) could miss out as well.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic is available after suspension.
Chelsea team news
- Diego Costa serves the first of his three-match suspension.
- Thibaut Courtois continues his long term recovery from a knee injury, while Willian may miss out with a hamstring problem.
Newcastle vs Chelsea prediction
Mitrovic’s return will be a big boost for Newcastle because they badly missed him due to some abject performances from Cisse. The short-tempered Serbia international should lead the attack in what could be a 4-2-3-1 formation for the Magpies.
The injury crisis at left-back could force Colback to deputise if he is passed fit to start. Moussa Sissoko may then join Vurnon Anita in central midfield, with Georginio Wijnaldum, Florian Thauvin and possibly Ayoze Perez as the attacking midfielders behind Mitrovic.
Loic Remy is likely to spearhead Chelsea’s attacks on his return to Newcastle, while John Terry will possibly be involved from the start after his recent snub. Nemanja Matic is expected to be the holding midfielder, with Cesc Fabregas breaking forward to dictate play centrally.
Oscar could start in the central attacking midfield position, with Pedro Rodriguez and Eden Hazard coming inside from the flanks looking to receive the ball in between the lines and take on Newcastle’s defenders.
Both sides are under huge pressure for different reasons, but Newcastle will probably be happy with a draw provided it is accompanied by a good performance. For Chelsea, this is a must-win encounter so the Blues will probably commit forward in numbers from the start to try to test Newcastle’s makeshift defence.
Mitrovic will be crucial for Newcastle. He has proven in the few games he has been involved in that if he stays disciplined, he can be a handful for defenders. He can relieve pressure on the rest of his team-mates by holding the ball up and pushing play up the field, which is important against a quality side like the champions.
Score prediction
Newcastle 1-3 Chelsea
