Newcastle United vs Chelsea

Newcastle United will be desperate to kick-start their disappointing 2021/22 Premier League campaign when they take on league-leaders Chelsea at St James’ Park.

The recent Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United has failed to inspire the Tynesiders’ reaction on the pitch as they go into this round rooted to the relegation zone. Indeed, as one of just two Premier League sides yet to taste victory this season (D4, L5), the ‘Magpies’ face the prospect of going winless in their first ten matches of a new top-flight campaign for the third time in the club’s history, last doing so in 2018/19. That might not necessarily mean an end to Newcastle’s hopes of avoiding relegation, as they’ve remained in the league on both previous similar occasions. But they have lost five of their last six Premier League meetings with Chelsea (W1), including a pair of 2-0 defeats in the 2020/21 campaign.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have picked themselves up from a 1-0 home loss to Manchester City in late September, putting together three consecutive Premier League wins since then to move to the summit. A 7-0 thrashing of Newcastle’s fellow relegation rivals Norwich City last weekend ties in well with Chelsea’s tendency to shut out their opponents, as each of their three top-flight away wins this season has come ‘to nil.’ Another victory here would witness the ‘Blues’ rack up four successive Premier League triumphs for only the second time under current boss Thomas Tuchel. Having seen 14 different players get on the scoresheet this season, Chelsea should look unstoppable in the front third, even if they’ve netted under 1.5 goals three of their last four away matches across all competitions (W2, D1, L1).