As one controversial owner falls, it feels like another is on the rise at Newcastle United, making it rather ironic that we are the first club to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge since Roman Abramovich’s demise.
It could be a funny old atmosphere at this one, however distractions off the pitch could mean this is the perfect time to play the Blues; especially when they will have one eye on next week’s Champions League second leg at Lille.
As for ourselves, the Mags kept marching on at Southampton on Thursday, coming from behind to beat a Saints side who’d only lost ONE game at St Mary’s all season.
We spent large parts of the game without the ball and on the back foot – as we did against Brighton last weekend – yet spirit, character, organisation and quality in the final third won the day once again.
This will be an even tougher test, with Chelsea winning their last two league games by an aggregate score of 7-1 over the past week. It also looks like the first time in a few months that Howe will be forced to rotate, so another big team effort from all involved will be needed.
Saying that, our boss – the Premier League’s Manager of the Month for February – has won THREE of his five games at Stamford Bridge, so there’s plenty of reason to believe the lads cane come away with another surprise result!
Team news
Howe will make a late decision on Allan Saint-Maximin (ilness), Joelinton (groin) and Fabian Schar (groin), with it remaining to be seen if Bruno Guimaraes and Emil Krafth are OK after they hobbled off on Thursday (although Eddie is hoping it was just cramp).
Elsewhere, Kieran Trippier (foot), Callum Wilson (calf) and Federico Fernanadez (side strain) have been ruled out once again.
As for Chelsea, wing-backs Dan James and Ben Chilwell are out, however centre-back Antonio Rudiger is expected to return after he was given a rest in their 3-1 win at Norwich on Thursday night.
Predicted line ups
(4-3-3): Dubravka – Manquillo, Lascelles, Burn, Targett – S Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton – Almiron, Fraser – Wood.
Martin Dubravka – Was back to his best at St Mary’s making a superb late save to deny Salisu. We might need more of the same to get a result in this one!
Javier Manquillo – Krafth went off with suspected cramp on Thursday and many believe Manquillo is actually the better option in Trippeir’s absence, so the Spaniard seems nailed on to start this one.
Jamaal Lascelles – Ideally, Howe will not want to make too many changes to his back four, but Schar is managing a groin issue and went down a few times in midweek. I can see the skipper coming in for this one.
Dan Burn – The big man has been a revelation so far, playing out of his skin following a return to his boyhood club. Undroppable at present, being a leader and calming presence; on and off the ball.
Matt Targett – Another superb January signing who is so hard to get past and positionally solid. Dummett will want game time to prove he’s worth a new deal, but Targett hasn’t put a foot wrong and looks ready to keep playing.
Sean Longstaff – If Howe wants to convince him to sign a new deal, he’ll need to give him game time and Sunday could be an ideal day for fresh legs. Alos, Shelvey probably needs a rest after being one of just two players to feature in every minute of our nine-game unbeaten run.
Bruno Guimaraes – I think he’ll retain his place if his withdrawal on Thursday was only down to cramp, not an injury. Some think he won’t start two games in four days after a period on the bench, but I’d argue he needs more starts to get up to speed. He only just over an hour at St Mary’s, too.
Joelinton – It all depends if his ongoing groin injury has settled down, but the fact he’s travelled with the squad suggests to me he might be OK. His physicality and engine was missed on Thursday and could be key against a strong Chelsea side.
Miguel Almiron – If Saint-Maximin is feeling better he could start, but the combination of illness and him “not being 100% fit” according to Howe makes me think he’ll be on the bench, at best. So, a rare start for the Paraguayan could be in order after Murphy put in another huge shift a few days ago.
Ryan Fraser – Looked knackered when he came off on Thursday but did get a bit of a rest after being replaced late on, unlike Murphy. He’s been a key man lately and has been part of a few big wins at Chelsea during Howe’s time at Bournemouth.
Chris Wood – Will be desperate to build on his first goal for the club and does so much good work for the team. This means he too could be tired, however we have very few alternatives and will hope he can go on a run now.
Predicted Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Mendy – Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger – Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Kante, Alonso – Mount, Havertz – Lukaku.
Match prediction
I think there’ll be a lot of tired bodies in our squad and plenty changes made as a result.
We could look fresh and have several fringe men featuring who are eager to take their chance, however this feels like a tough ask against the current European Champions who will be keen to respond to all the off-field issues surrounding the club this week.
As a result, I think this may be the day our unbeaten run finally comes to an end, but nothing would surprise me with this group of lads – especially when Howe has a superb record at Stamford Bridge and will be desperate to keep the momentum going!
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
HOWAY THE LADS!
Ivan Toney puts Brentford ahead and keeps Burnley 10 points behind us. The fool Lawro said that a couple of losses could drag us back into the relegation fight. He forgets that those below us have to play each other and are all on terrible runs of form.
How does he still have a job?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Toney now on 11 goals.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Brentford now on 30 points. Looks like they are safe. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Lawro. Or will a couple of losses put them right back in the relegation fight you total t0sser. He is biased against NUFC.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I dont mind Lawro predicting a loss against Chelsea, it is the other thing he said that irks me. He said that a couple of losses would see us back in the relegation fight. The man doesnt have a clue and is clearly biased against NUFC.
These pundits want it both ways. They praise Bruce and then say NUFC are buying their way out of relegation, but then out of the other side of their mouth say we are still in trouble. Simon Jordan says Eddie will be sacked within 18 months.
I bet Lawro predicts a loss for us against Everton. It could happen, but the form guide says otherwise. I think we are 2nd bottom based on Lawro’s predictions. I can understand it if we still had Bruce and had not signed 5 players in Jan, but…
Plus we are likely to have Tripps and Wilson back for the last few games, although we probably wont need them.
These ex-players get a lot of money for nothing. They just dont seem to be able to apply any logic. Are they a bit thick?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Paul Merson’s Giant Balloon Heed also predicts 2-0 Chelsea, and says: “to be fair, I would predict the same result if this fixture took place a year from now”.
Does he realise that Abramovich’s assets are frozen. That Chelsea’s bank account are frozen. That the UK Govt is basically now in charge of Chelsea Football Club. Does he watch the news?
Does he realise how much money NUFC have and that there will be 2 more transfer windows if this game was played on the same date next year.
Does he think before he opens his mouth? What a Wally.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
OG by McGuire. What does he have to do to be dropped by Southgate? What does BDB have to do to be picked ahead of him?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Eric – did you see the Spurs lad laugh in his face? – I’d have pulled his head off!!. Not cool that like.
Maguire is having a really poor season, but he’s not a bad player. He just needs taking out and rested a bit. He’s not the only one in that team to be fair – but it seems to be that his mistakes are the most costly and so stand out the most.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Spurs again are the also rans. They are so weak & without Kane & Son they’d be bottom half of the league every season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Just to sum up on the absolute b0llocks that Lawro is talking about a couple of losses taking us back into the relegation scrap, I extrapolated the bottom 5’s current points to show what it would mean over a full season. Of course this doesnt take into account current form but when you consider we have 31 points, take a look:
Over 38 game season:
Norwich 23
Watford 26
Burnley 28
Everton 33
Leeds 31
Everton also have the hardest run-in and I think they are really in trouble if we beat them.
My guess in a max of 35 points to stay up, so is Lawro saying we will not get 4 points from our remaining 11 games, some of which are against the bottom 5. What a pl0nker.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
We are staying up lads and lasses, whatever these moron pundits say. Bruce/Jones even got 6 points from 11 games and that was without the Jan additions. Remember, Ugly John Carver got us to safety with a decimated team and I would say he rivalled Richard Dinnis as the worst NUFC Manager of all time, and we have had quite a few bad managers.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Oh, I forgot to extrapolate NUFC points. If we got the same points per game for the remainder of the season we would end up on 41. Remember 11 of our 27 games were with Bruce/Jones.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Eric – Burnley have averaged 0.7 points per game so far this season. If they stick with that in their remaining 11 games they get another 8.5 points – meaning they get 29/30 points.
Based on our average we stand to pick up a further 12 points (just over). Looking at our remaining fixtures – Everton, Palace, Norwich and Burnley could give those 12 points on our current form.
I think we’ll get a further 8 points this season but will be comfortably safe with 3 or 4 games still to play.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: you are right, I didnt do the maths right for Burnley but it is only 1 or 2 points so 28 or 29 as you say. My reasoning that we are safe remains the same as extrapolating Burnley’s points for the whole season has them with less than we have now.
I was on my usual high horse about pundits (Lawro) as they dont think their comments through. One, maybe 2 teams MIGHT go on a run, but not all 6 below us.
Lawro and Merson in particular just cannot give NUFC any credit. I think Simon Jordan knows what he is doing and is on a wind up with the Toon.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Also Sharpy: I know extrapolating is not perfect but I was making the point that the pundits are not thinking this through. WE ARE SAFE!!!
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I know you watched that Bournemouth documentary “Minus 17”. It is uncanny that Howe is doing exactly the same thing at NUFC as he did then. There were some bumps in the road which is why I am not bothered if we get beat tomorrow. I have us 1-1 BTW. Whatever happens I think we will get something out of the Scouse Mackems.
Everton really are “too good to go down”. They have some good players but a **** defense. If they are relegated it will be on Rafa, Super-Frank and their wingeing supporters.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Stat attack.
We averaged 15 shots in the 3 games before Brighton. Consider that. We were lucky to have 2 or 3 under the Cabbage. It dropped off a bit in the next 2 games as we only had a little over 30% possession.
Brighton 10 shots.
Southampton 8 shots.
It is not that great, but it is the comparison to what it was before that is striking. And that is without Wilson and without St Max for most of the last 2 games.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I dont really want to talk about Merson but he really outdid himself on Soccer Saturday. He said that Eddie will not want to finish top 10 because that would mean NUFC would rest on their laurels in the summer and not buy players, thinking that comfortable mid-table is our ambition. He then said we would still be in a relegation battle.
Where to start? He just doesnt get it. The Saudi’s bought NUFC to be the next Man City. Merson starts off with a false premise that we will not spend and then digs himself a deeper hole from there. They want to promote their country by having it associated with a successful football team. They have the blueprint from Man City and previously Chelsea, although Putin has put a spanner in their works. It is called “sportswashing” Paul. It has been in the news for years. The Saudis do not want to be midtable they want to win the Champions League as part of their “Vision 2030” project.
This summer will give us the opportunity to take the next step. I think we will spend about 200 million but it might not all be up front. There are a lot of free Agents out there and the real money might be on their salaries.
I think our aim next year is Europe whether it be Europa League or Conference. Leicester and WHam are in Europe this year and we will have a better squad than both.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Are we really worried about rotating/resting players because we have 3 games in 8 days? I wouldn’t be and we should pick the best team available based on form and fitness. Most of our players get a rest during the international break anyway so I cant see how they could be too knackered with our relatively light schedule. Mo Salah, for example, has already played 35 games this year and played 51 last year.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10606395/OLIVER-HOLT-Chelsea-vs-Newcastle-turns-stomach-embarrasses-national-sport.html
He can’t let it go can he.
KIMTOON(Quote)
He does tend to miss the point doesn’t he.
It’s OK for the Govt. to accept Russian Bribes and The UK housing market to be a haven for money laundering, but it’s not OK for a Russian to own a club. Now perhaps restrictions are in place, so he could celebrate that, but doesn’t.
This govt also has healthy trade deals with Saudi, including providing the arms for the Yemen war he , rightly complains about, but not own a football club.
He seems to think that Football exists in isolation from reality, forgetting the bribery and corruption at the top of the EPL.
Oh well as long as he gets paid for writing rubbish at least one person benefits.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem, He’s a hypocrite , he was over in Saudi for the boxing and no doubt will attend Qatar for WC, Qatar isn’t exactly squeaky clean with human rights .
He bangs on about the War in YEMEN without fully understanding the situation it seems as well.
He’s been enjoying Chelsea hospitality on match days and lauding their every trophy since Roman bought them success but only now starts to virtual signal about them.
No mention of Russian involvement in Everton and the downright dodgy owners at Manure, even City on get a passing remark or two.
He seems to think US, Chinese owners are squeaky clean, oh and should British owners also be sanctioned for the, perceived by many illegal invasion of Iraq ?
Lots of double standards at play with Mr Holt as far as I can see.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Change of formation!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
5 at the back for Chelsea. Max is on the bench. So is Fraser. We may lose this one.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Looking at our team today I reckon Eddie is targeting the Everton game as more likely to yield points.
Free hit today sadly.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Gilly , agree mate
KIMTOON(Quote)
Anyway HWTL
Hope springs eternal .
KIMTOON(Quote)
It looks to me like Eddie has decided this is the game to give a rest to some players as it’s the least likely to get points from. Be interesting to see how the new formation works too. Must be a plan and a reason. It’s not like Kebab man who just stuck to the same method every game.
Stuart79(Quote)
It’s still quite an attacking side. I’m guessing the tactic will be to hit them on the break. We have some quick forwards. And 3 centre backs will help defensively. I’d love a point from this but depends on how Chelsea team are handling their situation!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
be over the moon with a draw tbh
KIMTOON(Quote)
That was a poor pass Miggy
KIMTOON(Quote)
Almiron needs to look up before he makes a decision. That pass was to nobody
Shamrock(Quote)
Good defending Murphy
Shamrock(Quote)
Dear God
Shamrock(Quote)
I looked at the Everton starting 11 and cannot believe they are where they are.
NUFC are doing OK so far – on 20 mins.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Well, the internet and technology are seeing the demise of libraries. They could open one at Stamford Bricge today in the Chelsea sections.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
It’s a sight to behold our pressing. A clear plan of how and when to do it. Wonderful
Stuart79(Quote)
It’s a really strange atmosphere. They applaud a free kick and then go back to silence. You can almost feel their worry about where the club are heading. They have won their last 4 games though.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Longstaff somehow doesnt look as slow. Maybe he was just unfit?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Clear red. What is the point of VAR?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
wow Miggy, unlucky
KIMTOON(Quote)
Should have been red and Jorginho should have seen yellow towards the end. Miggy unlucky, great shot. Very good team effort so far.
Shamrock(Quote)
Good first half that, hope they don’t bring on Lukaku as think they would fair better with him on.
KIMTOON(Quote)
defo a red but it’s a top 6 club , we’re never gonna see a red.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Good first half. Chelsea should be down to 10. Clear red. VAR strikes against us once again. What do we need to do to get a decision? ?. Not be Newcastle I guess.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Everton losing v Wolves
KIMTOON(Quote)
Look at the lump on Burns head. How does the Chelsea player stay on the pitch after that elbow? If that was the other way around it would be red.
And that’s 2 games in a row opposition players have thrown themselves on the floor and picked the ball up expecting a free kick when they have not been fouled.
Shamrock(Quote)
Dan Burn having an excellent game so far
KIMTOON(Quote)
That’s a pen do not deny us VAR
***
VAR SAY NO PEN
KIMTOON(Quote)
Christ now a high boot is another yellow
KIMTOON(Quote)
I’m not convinced. Very minimal contact. Looked more like a dive.
Shamrock(Quote)
And that was a pen on Murphy.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Bloody hell this ref & var
KIMTOON(Quote)
Changed my mind. Loads of shirt pulling, should have been a pen.
Shamrock(Quote)
Chelsea rattled
KIMTOON(Quote)
Watch VAR say that ain’t offside now the cnuts
KIMTOON(Quote)
How the **** is that a could against Targett
Shamrock(Quote)
Christ here comes Lakaku
KIMTOON(Quote)
Clear fuc.king penalty there. Fuming ?????
Gilly Toon(Quote)
We deserve at least a point today will be proper peed off if we get nowt
KIMTOON(Quote)
not sure ASM would be a good idea yet, not inclined to do the defensive work, on the other hand will draw a few fouls I suspect.
Reckon he will put him on around 75th-80th min to run at them
KIMTOON(Quote)
So Maxi in the 70th then
Come on Maxi, give us a treat
KIMTOON(Quote)
Miggy had a decent game.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Chelsea have 13 men – 11 players plus Ref and VAR.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Stamford Bridge is sooooo quiet.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Well done Dubs
KIMTOON(Quote)
Lascelles is the weak link. He just let Havertz have a free header.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Toffees have had a player sent off
KIMTOON(Quote)
Wood is the clumsiest player I have ever seen. Ball control nonexistent
Groucho(Quote)
Jamie saying not Chelsea’s day, but I would argue it is given they got away with a pen and red
KIMTOON(Quote)
Apparently it is Chelsea’s day
Undeserved totally undeserved
Fuming 👿 👿
KIMTOON(Quote)
4 mins to get level
C’mon lads ffs
KIMTOON(Quote)
Gayle and Frazer on
KIMTOON(Quote)
He shouldn’t even of been on the pitch to score that goal either.
Gutting for the lads after working so hard, robbed by VAR and the ref today.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Everton lose Leeds win
KIMTOON(Quote)
Fuming! Absolutely fuming! Havertz should not have been on the pitch to score. Clear as day penalty denied to us. Absolutely fuming at the corruption going on with these refs. ????????? . We deserved at least a point from that game. Even three.
Gilly Toon(Quote)