Team
news, key stats and prediction ahead of Newcastle vs Chelsea in the Premier
League on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
Team news
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce hopes to have forward Allan Saint-Maximin back
from a hamstring injury.
Defender Fabian Schar is back in training and is closing in on a return,
along with Jonjo Shelvey, but Paul Dummett and Dwight Gayle will be
sidelined after suffering hamstring problems of their own at Wolves.
Revealing that scans had not yielded good news, Bruce said: "'Dummy's' looks
a particularly nasty one and Dwight, we think, is a normal bog-standard one,
between four weeks and six weeks, so it's not great news."
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante's hamstring problem continues to be assessed
ahead of the Blues' trip to Newcastle.
Frank Lampard has no new injury concerns. Marcos Alonso is back in
contention after recovering from a thigh injury, but Christian Pulisic is
still absent.
A look at some of the key stats surrounding this weekend's Premier League
action as Liverpool welcome Manchester United and Crystal Palace face
champions Manchester City
Opta stats
Newcastle have taken just four points from their last eight Premier League
games against Chelsea (W1 D1 L6), losing each of their last three meetings
in a row.
Chelsea are looking to record consecutive away Premier League wins against
Newcastle United for the first time since winning 2-0 in both 2007-08 and
2008-09.
Chelsea have only beaten Tottenham Hotspur (29 wins) more often in the
Premier League than they have Newcastle United (25 wins).
Newcastle have lost their last two Premier League home games, conceding as
many goals in those defeats as they had in their previous seven combined at
St James' Park (5).
Despite having the joint-second highest points tally away from home in the
Premier League this season (22), Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet on
the road this term, conceding 19 goals in their 11 games.
Four different English players have scored a combined 20 Premier League
goals for Chelsea this season, the most on both counts in a season for the
Blues since 2012-13 (5 players scoring 23 goals).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
I have never seen injuries like it at Newcastle. It may have been Rochdale
but Steve Bruce wanted his side to get through. He is not particularly
fighting a relegation battle but how things could materialise could mean
that they end up doing so. There is still a lot of work to done.
Newcastle are sitting on 26 points and may need 40 to survive - we are
looking at around four wins and two draws. They may have to play this like
an away game. The fans will not like it but they are down to the bare bones.
Chelsea are strong away from home and can hit on the counter-attack if
Newcastle leave that option open.
Chelsea will want to keep the gap to Wolves, Manchester United, Sheffield
United, Tottenham and Arsenal. They will not want to go too inconsistent, as
they will be concerned again.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-3 (11/1 with Sky Bet)
top