While Chelsea might need to work hard to convince us to take them seriously, Newcastle have every right to feel confident and out for blood. Either way, Ryan thinks we have a game which will indicate a fair bit about how this season might play out.
Newcastle United vs Chelsea
Saturday 12 November 2022
St. James’ Park
19:30
Newcastle 13/10 | Draw 24/10 | Chelsea 21/10
How could anyone possibly hate Newcastle United at the moment? Yes, there is the issue around ownership – but from a footballing perspective, their story is intriguing.
Eddie Howe has come in and almost immediately instilled a sense of belief, in a group of players who seemed to be buckling under the weight of expectation.
A lot has been made about the players Howe has brought into the club, but what about the improvement in players who have been in and around the club for a while? Miguel Almiron immediately springs to mind.
The Paraguayan couldn’t buy a goal a couple of months ago but has now found his shooting boots. He’s scored seven goals in as many games, only blanking against Manchester United.
When Leicester won the Premier League, I said this; you cannot achieve success in the most difficult league in the world by luck or chance for more than 10 weeks.
Once everything settles down, the cream rises, and the usual big guns usually find their way to the top of the standings. We are at week 16 of the domestic league season and Newcastle are priced up as favourites against Chelsea and find themselves very much in the running for a top-four spot.
I think the jury is still out on Graham Potter. The Englishman did a good job steadying things after the departure of Thomas Tuchel, but performances have dipped of late.
I must be honest; I was disappointed with his reflections after their embarrassing loss to Arsenal. By the way, I only say embarrassing because of their performance. At no point in the game did Chelsea try and win it, they offered nothing going forward and couldn’t get a foothold in midfield. To put all of that down to the fact that they are some way behind Arsenal isn’t good enough for me.
They now need to make the trip to Tyneside to face a buzzing Newcastle side in front of their partisan support. I know that Graham Potter and his side haven’t had the best luck with injuries and consistency – but if they aren’t up for this, they might get drilled.
Thiago Silva has been immense at the back, almost to the point where he has held Chelsea’s defensive line in place. I don’t see where or how Jorginho keeps his place in the side.
Potter must find a way to get Raheem Sterling further up the pitch. The Englishman has been asked to play so deep at times, stunting his attacking output.
I think back to how lethal he was at City, the positions he found himself in around the goal and his presence in the face of defenders…none of this has been seen at the Bridge!
Verdict: Newcastle Win/Draw and Over 2.5 (7/4)
I think there will be goals here for sure. Newcastle are the home side and the ones playing with confidence and belief. They will certainly have a crack at Chelsea. I suspect Graham Potter knows that Chelsea FC cannot surely go to Newcastle and be conservative and too passive – they will need to have a go!
I really hope it plays out like that and we have an open end-to-end game. It will certainly offer up goals because of the spaces which will inevitably be left behind, but I also think it favours Newcastle. There isn’t any reason to go against them, and I don’t need too many reasons to convince me why I shouldn’t be in the camp of Chelsea.
