Chelsea v Newcastle - Match Preview

So, we’re back on Sky tomorrow night, and we all know what that means…. We’re going to win! Forgive me for my exaggerated optimism. We head to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (5:30pm KO), and after a good performance and result against West Brom last weekend, we can hope that the squad can bring that same attacking edge and determination to get a result away at Stamford Bridge. The players have no excuse for not giving 100% out there on Saturday, with the prospect of no game for 18 days after this one, and a warm weather training camp out in Spain to look forward to. Let us hope the team are heading out there on a high! Now, for our match preview….. So, how do we fare against Chelsea in recent years?

2014/15: Newcastle 2-1 Chelsea (Cisse 57, 78), (Drogba, 83) Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle (Oscar, 43) (Costa, 59)

2013/14: Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea (Gouffran, 68) (Remy, 89) Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle (Hazard 27, 34, 63)

2012/13: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle (Hazard, 22) (Torres, 45+3) Newcastle 3-2 Chelsea (Jonas, 41) (Sissoko, 68,90) (Lampard, 55) (Mata, 61) Newcastle: The Last 5

Newcastle 3-3 Man Utd Newcastle 2-1 West Ham Watford 2-1 Newcastle Everton 3-0 Newcastle Newcastle United 1-0 West Brom So although not perfect, 7 points from our last 5 games is actually a fairly good record for the last 5 given our performances and results throughout the season. Chelsea: The Last 5 Chelsea 3-3 Everton Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea MK Dons 1-5 Chelsea Watford 0-0 Chelsea Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd Although it does seem Hiddink has turned things around at Chelsea, there still may be concern, with their only convincing score line coming away at Championship side MK Dons. The performance at Arsenal was solid, however many could suggest it was not good enough given Arsenal were down to 10 men for a significant amount of the match. Team News: Newcastle

Ahead of this game, Newcastle will be able to welcome back 2 players in Jack Colback and Emmanuel Riviere. It is expected Colback could slot into left back ahead of Aarons, with Tiote set to keep his place based on merit, after a great performance last time out. Riviere of course still has a point to prove, and whether he gets a chance to do so tomorrow remains to be seen. There are no fresh injury concerns for Newcastle, with McClaren suggesting that the long period without a game will also see a number of players return, which of course is only a positive for the club. Team News: Chelsea

Despite suffering a broken nose in training on Thursday, Diego Costa is available for Chelsea and is of course most likely to start. Chelsea also may have Brazillian new boy Alexandre Pato on the bench, however French centre half Kurt Zouma will not be available having suffered an ACL injury against Manchester United last weekend, so Gary Cahill is expected to start alongside John Terry. Referee

Saturday Evening’s fixture will be controlled by Roger East. Roger East has officiated 5 Newcastle fixtures this season, most recently in the FA Cup away at Watford, a game which we lost 1-0. Over the course of the 15/16 season, he has issued 74 yellow cards and just 1 red card. My XI vs Chelsea

Elliot Janmaat Taylor Colo Colback Shelvey Tiote Sissoko Wijnaldum Townsend Mitrovic