The State of Play
Mauricio Pochettino remains under major pressure in charge of Chelsea as they begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting in the bottom-half of the Premier League. The Blues had a lead against Brentford last weekend but ended up sharing a 2-2 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium. They have managed just one win in their last five matches in the league.
Newcastle United have been magnificently entertaining throughout this campaign, albeit inconsistent as they sit just outside of the top seven and the European spots. The Magpies’ 27 matches so far this season have consisted of 92 goals. They do come into this one on the back of a much-needed and impressive 3-0 hammering of Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James’ Park, last weekend.
Read our other Champions League news stories here:
Arsenal vs Brentford: Preview, expected line-ups, how to watch and prediction
Bayern Munich: Rummenigge plays down Xabi Alonso reports
Real Madrid: Camavinga claims no knowledge of Mbappe agreement
Team News
England internationals Levi Colwill and Ben Chilwell have joined Chelsea’s long injury list, whilst Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku all also remain unavailable for the Blues.
Newcastle United are still without the likes of Joelinton, Callum Wilson and Nick Pope due to injury, as well as Kieran Trippier. Sandro Tonali is still missing through suspension, whilst Matt Targett is a doubt and Lewis Hall is ineligible against his parent club.
Expected Line-ups
Chelsea: Petrovic; Gusto, Silva, Disasi, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sterling; Jackson
Newcastle United: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
What they Said
Mauricio Pochettino is trying to stay positive but did respond quite harshly to Chelsea fans being critical of him, stating that he ‘doesn’t care’ about the boos from the away end in their draw against Brentford.
Eddie Howe discussed the fact Newcastle are once again pushing for a top seven finish in the Premier League, once again. He said: “We now go away to some tough places but that puts us back in contention.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at Stamford Bridge at 20:00 on Monday March 11th and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. It will also be able to be streamed live via the Sky Go app.
Prediction
Chelsea have put in some intriguing performances this season but they are inconsistent at both ends of the pitch and often within the same 90 minutes. Their 2-2 draw with Brentford last weekend mean they have had 87 goals in their 26 matches thus far. Given they now host a team that are seen as the league’s ‘entertainers’, this could be a thriller at Stamford Bridge with over 2.5 goals seeming likely.
