Newcastle United will visit high-flying Chelsea for a late Monday kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have won their last four matches and are unbeaten since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival late last month. While Newcastle comes on the back of a spirited display in their 3-2 victory at St James’.
Tuchel took a conservative approach to start with five-at-the-back to provide sound defensive foundations. Fringe experienced players such as Marcus Alonso, Azpilicueta and Jorginho have been reinstated to their main roles. This system has brought much-needed experience and results for them which lifted the pressure of young guns in Kai Havertz, etc. They have kept four clean sheets in five matches under Thomas Tuchel which is highly impressive.
But this approach has its drawbacks, also their attack never looked like getting going in a hard-fought 1-0 FA Cup win over Barnsley. One of the star players for Chelsea under Tuchel is Callum Hudson Odoi his pace and trickery are difficult to cope with for opposition defences.
Team News
Chelsea
Chelsea will be missing veteran defender Thiago Silva to a hamstring injury. Timo Werner was out in midweek but may return for the Newcastle game. Kante did start his first game under Tuchel in midweek so there’s a possibility he might not be rushed into for Newcastle game. While Havertz is also out with injury.
Newcastle United
The Southampton win came at a big cost for the Magpies as they are set to lose 3 key first-team figures to long-term injury layoffs. Callum Wilson, Manquillo, and Fabian Schar all are expected to be out for 6-8 weeks.
“Fabian Schär has had an operation on his knee ligaments so it’s eight weeks out for him.
“Javier Manquillo did his ankle ligaments so he could be a similar time out and Callum Wilson has got a tear to his hamstring so that could be 6-8 weeks as well.”
“Wilson’s hamstring is, unfortunately, worse than we feared, and he’s going to be out for weeks…. whether it’s six to eight, it’s an awful hamstring. It’s devastating news for us,” Bruce Said in his interview.
It comes to be a very big blow for Steve Bruce to lose his top scorer to a long injury. Wilson is a central point to the newfound proactive pressing system Newcastle has adopted lately. The high press is the key in this new approach the only player capable to do it in our squad is Dwight Gayle who might come into the frame. Carroll is well off the pace and Joe is not comfortable in the striker’s role.
Another boost for the Magpies will be the return of defenders Jamaal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez. In recent weeks we have been short in that area and struggling to make up the numbers.
Predicted Lineup
Karl Darlow was the culprit at both the goals against Southampton. He should cover the near post well for the first one and his positioning was in question for Ward Prowse’s free-kick. His contributions in absence of Dubravka are great but I believe Dubravka is a better all-round keeper and his ball distribution capabilities could come in handy in this new system. But as we all know, Bruce will go with the winning lineup.
So Darlow will keep his place between the sticks. A pairing of Issac Hayden and Ciaran Clark will feature at the back. Dummett will also be in contention after superb display after coming as a sub against the Saints But we can’t have two left-footed centre-back So, to achieve balance Hayden should again be a solid makeshift centre-back.
Jamal Lewis will continue his good form at left-back and Emil Krafth will fill in for injured Manquillo at Left-back.
A midfield trio of Matty Longstaff, Joe Willock, and Jonjo Shelvey would be preferred. Willock’s late runs would facilitate our wingers and his ball-carrying ability would come in handy to counters.
Miguel Almiron will start in his favoured ten role. Dwight Gayle and Saint-Maximin would form the duo with Maxi pushing towards the wing.
Formation: (4-3-1-2 or 4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Karl Darlow.
Defenders: Emil Krafth; Issac Hayden; Ciaran Clark; Jamal Lewis.
Midfielders: Matty Longstaff; Joe Willock; Shelvey.
Forwards: Miguel Almiron; Dwight Gayle; Saint-Maximin.
It’s a huge opportunity for the Toons to grasp a surprise win here, Chelsea struggled badly against a high pressing side in Barnsley, who created very decent chances to score but lack that cutting edge.
Newcastle would certainly enjoy on counters if a midfield of Jorginho and Kovacic in sitting two lacks that DM mentality. If Matty does the dirty work Willock and Shelvey will certainly enjoy the night. The one thing we should avoid in this match is to give Chelsea extra respect and opt for a defensive approach.
