Newcastle v Chelsea – Match preview.
Posted on November 27th, 2010 | 112 Comments |
Of course it is very easy to write that, but it will be much harder in the real world to beat the current Premier League champions and FA Cup holders.
However, they have been out of sorts recently, which perhaps opens up a window of opportunity for Newcastle to spring another surprise this season. I mean we have already beaten some top teams, so why can’t we add another to the list? Naturally the bookies and pundits will fancy Chelsea to end their recent run of poor form, but they are still missing some key players, so perhaps we have a chance after all?
Throw the rather cold weather and thick blanket of snow that has covered the North-East into the equation and perhaps those conditions could play into our hands? Will the Chelsea mega-stars be up for the fight? Hit them hard, but fair, and hit them fast I say.
Forget Chelsea though! Newcastle have their own run of poor results to try and recover from. It’s been three games since Newcastle have won a Premier League game, wth the last victory being that marvellous 1-0 win away at Arsenal. It’s a tough ask to beat Chelsea, but we have proven that we can beat good teams this season.
Anyway, moving on to team news…
With regard to the home side, it’s very much a case of ‘same old’ where injuries are concerned with Ryan Taylor, Hatem Ben Arfa, Steve Harper, Dan Gosling all still out with their respective long-term injuries. Leon Best is rated as doubtful as he continues to have problems with his ankle, whilst Shola Ameobi’s fitness is also in doubt.
I can forsee a return to the 4-4-1-1 system for the match tomorrow to be honest, with Kevin Nolan playing off of Andy Carroll in the Newcastle attack. I also have a feeling that Wayne Routledge will start the match tomorrow, which will allow Danny Guthrie to slip into the centre of midfield and play alongside Cheick Tiote who returns from suspension.
Speaking of suspensions, Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson both start their three game bans tomorrow, whilst Joey Barton misses his third and final match. Taking all of that into consideration, I’d like to a team of;
Newcastle – Time Krul, Danny Simpson, Sol Campbell, Steven Taylor, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Danny Guthrie, Cheick Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll.
Chelsea are missing some very notable names from their team-sheet at the moment, and their results in recent weeks kind of show that even the best can struggle if they lose their better players. Michael Essien will serve the final game of his three game suspension whilst John Terry, Frank Lampard and Yossi Benayoun will miss the match through injury.
The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City last time out where they lined up with a team of;
Chelsea – Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda, Soloman Kalou, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka.
Chelsea hold the upper hand with regards to the head-to-head record. Out of 130 league encounters, Chelsea have won 52 times compared to Newcastle’s 44. If Chelsea lose the game, it will be the first time that they have lost three league games in a row since October 1999.
Sol Campbell will make his 500th career league appearance if he features, whilst Jose Enrique is set to make his 100th start for Newcastle. Paulo Ferreira and John Obi Mikel could also start their 100th league game for their current club, whilst Florent Malouda looks likely to make his 100th appearance.
I think this will be a game that will turn out be a lot tighter than a lot of people think. To me it has the hallmark of one of those games where we play really well but ultimately get nothing from it. Chelsea need to get back to winning ways, and on paper, even missing key players, they are still stronger than us.
My prediction: Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea.
Howay the lads!
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Im really not sure about what will happen tomorow. I think whoever gets the first goal will really have the upper hand even moreso than usual. I might back us at 4/1 actually I think we’re due a gud’un. Drogba won’t get much change from big Sol and Taylor and They have a defense that has taken a few hits, the regulars that are there arn’t 100% either.