Third-place Newcastle United entertain seventh-placed Chelsea at St James’s Park in an exciting encounter in the Premier League before the World Cup break.
The Magpies recorded their fourth straight win in the Premier League with a 4-1 win against Southampton last weekend in the Premier League on the same day Chelsea lost the first London derby encounter with league leaders Arsenal 1-0.
NEW vs CHE Match Details
Date: Saturday, 12 September 2022
Time: 18:30 (BST) / 23:00 (IST)
Venue: St James’s Park, Newcastle
NEW vs CHE Match Preview
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United are having finesse and euphoria with their football as the Magpies are taking baby steps towards being the club they want to be in future. However, they would have not wanted the World Cup to swing in at this period of time when they are having a sensational run of form winning against anyone and everyone on their way. The Toons have won their last four Premier League games scoring 11 goals, eight of them in the last two matches itself and conceding just three. Such a rich vein of form is normally associated with the top six teams of the Premier League with Newcastle wanting themselves to be in that discussion sooner than later. Placed third on the table with 27 points, holding a Champions League spot after 14 matches played seems to be the stuff of dreamland for the fans who saw their team languishing at the wrong end of the table and struggling to even get wins on board. The 4-1 win for the Magpies last weekend over Southampton is the fourth time they have scored this amount of goals with their Paraguayan star Miguel Almiron in hot scoring form for the first time in his Premier League career, the goal against the Saints being his eighth of the season in 14 games. Callum Wilson has also been in a sparkling mood contributing to eight goals in 10 matches and rightfully earning a call-up to the England squad for the World Cup next week. Another win will put Newcastle United seven points clear of Manchester United in fifth heading into the World Cup break in some style. Never again they have achieved victories in five Premier League games on the spin since 2014 so they are willing to make the most of the opportunity as Chelsea visits them with the Blues sustaining a period of struggle under manager Graham Potter.
The 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the London Derby and then a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the midweek EFL Cup tie put more misery on the Blues finding it hard at the moment to get the balance right in the team. Potter’s men have only scored twice and conceded eight goals in the last five Premier League games citing work needing to be done on either end of the pitch. They have not seen the sight of a win in the previous three domestic games and four in the Premier League. Chelsea were in the top four spots after their last league win in October against Aston Villa but now sits five points adrift of the last Champions League places with the growing danger of missing out on the competition entirely next season unless they win it, either objective looking way difficult at the moment. Graham Potter would have wanted an easier fixture after a 4-1 humiliation to his former side Brighton preceding the two defeats but faces a Newcastle United team with a completely different look to them this season. Few could have predicted this season that the Toons will be above the Blues 14 games into the season and moving into the World Cup break despite spending $145 million in the summer transfer window yet the situation has been made possible. Chelsea have enjoyed this fixture largely and have not lost in this meeting since 2014 at this ground. However, history will matter less if Chelsea continues to look indecisive in their display. It is early time for Potter to get his tactics heard on the field with injuries to key players not helping him although he cannot let the train go derail completely otherwise the patience from the club owners may run down as well. For now, Chelsea’s desire is to pick up something significant to have some belief in their mind post the World Cup break.
Recent Form (all competitions)
NEW: WWWWW
CHL: LLWLW
Recent Form (league)
NEW: WWWWD
CHL: LLDDW
NEW vs CHE Team News
Ryan Fraser suffered a calf injury in the penalty shoot win for Newcastle United against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup tie midweek. He will be available after the World Cup break. Other than that, Eddie Howe has no new injury issues to the squad with Matt Richie nearing a return from his calf problem. Striker Aleksander Isak had the latest scan on his muscle injury which was positive with the Swede now on track to return for the game against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, the first game back from the World Cup in late December. Emil Krafth is out for the long term with a ligament injury.
Reece James receive the disappointing news of not getting selected in the England squad for the World Cup although his knee injury would have prevented him from participating in the tournament anyway as his return date is set for late December. None of N’Golo Kante, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell will be available for the final game before the World Cup with the latter also missing the Three Lions due to a hamstring injury.
NEW vs CHE Predicted Lineups
NEW: Nick Pope; Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, Dan Burn; Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock; Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson, Joelinton
CHL: Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Marc Cucurella; Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic; Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount; Aubameyang
NEW vs CHE Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Pope (6.5)
DEF: Trippier (9), Schar (7.5), T Silva (7.5)
MID: Mount (8.5), Kovacic (6.5), Guimaraes (8.5), Joelinton (7.5)
FW: Almiron (9), Wilson (9), Sterling (7.5),
Vice-captain: Miguel Almiron
Captain: Kieran Trippier
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
