Newcastle United host Chelsea in the late kick-off on Saturday, with the stuttering champions looking for their first win at St James Park since December 2011.
Having gained just two points from six outings, Steve McClaren’s men are still searching for an elusive victory to help climb off the bottom of the ladder, most recently falling to a 2-1 defeat against Watford last Saturday. Like their opponents, Chelsea have also made a slow start to their season, however, a 2-0 win against Arsenal last weekend could be the catalyst for yet another title challenge.
Key Battle – Georginio Wijnaldum vs Cesc Fabregas
Heading into this season, Georginio Wijnaldum and Cesc Fabregas were expected to be the key men for their respective teams. Yet both have not had the influence they would have been hoping for so far, with the Spaniard in particular performing well below the form which has devestated the Premier League for many years. These players have quality and will soon hit top form, but whoever wins the midfield battle out of these two herewill go a long way to deciding the three points.
Team news
Papiss Cisse has a back problem and is likely to miss out this match. He will be replaced by Aleksandr Mitrovic, who has now completed his three match suspension, while ever-present pair Massadio Haidara and Jack Colback have slight knocks but should feature. Iinjury prone defender Steven Taylor is once again unavailable, this time with a hamstring problem. Cheick Tiote, Paul Dummett, Emmanuel Riviere and Sylvain Marveaux all remain sidelined.
Diego Costa will be missing as he serves a retrospective ban for his involvement in the controversial sending-off of Arsenal’s Gabriel Paulista last Saturday, while Willian faces a race against the clock to be fit and but still is in serious doubt. First choice shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Head-to-head
There has been 157 meetings between the teams in the past, with Chelsea leading the ledger with 66 wins compared to the Geordies’ 52 and 39 ending in stalemates. While the Blues have the historical advantage, Newcastle has won the last three fixtures at St James Park.
Previous meeting
These two most recently faced-off back in January just after the halfway point of last season, when a 2-0 win for Jose Mourinho’s men at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of strikes from Oscar and Diego Costa, saw a two point gap open up at the top of the league table. For Newcastle, this was caretaker manager John Carver’s second game in charge and was the beginning of a disastrous run of form, which almost saw the Toon relegated at season’s end.
Prediction
After the lifeless performance against Watford last weekend it is very difficult to see where the Geordies first win will come from which is very concerning from their point of view because you do not want to fall too far behind in the relegation battle. There is an obvious lack of confidence within the walls at St James Park and Chelsea will see this as a perfect opportunity to capitalise on this and really kickstart their season after a poor start themselves. Jose Mourinho will also be eager to get rid of his St James Park curse. In five league visits he has only got draws and suffered three defeats. With Newcastle looking suspect in every department and at the bottom of the league, will Saturday be Mourinho’s first win at St James Park? It seems likely.
Newcastle United 0 Chelsea 2
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