Newcastle United vs Chelsea

St James’ Park is the venue as Newcastle United and Chelsea lock horns in a blockbuster English League Cup tie.

Newcastle United’s rotten patch hit a new low at the weekend as a 2-1 Premier League loss at Chelsea extended their winless run to three games (D1, L2), rounding off a poor run of just one win from their last six competitive matches (D2, L3). As a result of their notable downfall, manager Eddie Howe is starting to feel the heat, with the Magpies bidding to avenge the weekend disappointment in a familiar home setting. Back-to-back H2H victories at St James’ Park can inspire confidence around the home camp, as could the fact they’ve only suffered one defeat in five competitive outings on Tyneside this season (W3, D1). Action has been at a premium at St James’ Park, with four of those five games featuring under 2.5 goals.

On the other hand, Chelsea have gone from strength to strength since succumbing to a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, winning two consecutive matches, including a 4-1 demolition of Panathinaikos in the UEFA Europa Conference League on their most recent travel. Enzo Maresca’s charges thumped lower-league Barrow 5-0 in the previous EFL Cup round to set up only their fourth tie against Newcastle in this competition this century (W2, L1). Interestingly, none of Chelsea’s six competitive away games this season have ended all square (W4, L2), suggesting this showdown will likely not require a shootout drama.