Fourth-placed Newcastle welcome fifth-placed Chelsea at St James’ Park for the decider of the Champions League spots.
NEW vs CHE Match Details
Date: Saturday, 11 May 2025
Time: 12:00 (BST), 16:30 (IST)
Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle
NEW vs CHE Match Preview
Newcastle United are edging closer to returning to the Champions League with three games to spare, sitting in the fourth spot in the Premier League and three points better than dropping out of contention. Knowing any slip-up now will prove costly, the Magpies welcome fellow chasers Chelsea at St James’ Park to extend a six-point lead and go beyond any doubt to secure their place in the League Phase for the first time. Positive results in the remaining games could allow them to surpass Manchester City and potentially challenge second-place Arsenal, whom they face after the Blues in a tough schedule. However, any loss of concentration will jeopardise everything as Eddie Howe’s side eyes three points in the penultimate home game of the season. They have every reason to believe, carrying an excellent five-game winning run at the venue and not losing any home fixture against the current top five in the league. Newcastle also won the past two home meetings against Chelsea in the league and defeated them in the EFL Cup fourth round earlier this season. The host has also demolished the travelling sides in the past five games, scoring three or more goals on every occasion, showing their ruthlessness.
The home side’s form will concern Chelsea, despite Enzo Maresca's team's recent resurgence, with five consecutive wins in all competitions. The latest came in the 1-0 victory in the Conference League semi-final second leg against Swedish Djurgården, sealing a 5-1 aggregate score and a place in the competition’s final. The Blues have multiple rewards to play for to finish the season on a high if they can manage a place in the League Phase of the Champions League and win the Conference League at the end of the month. Chelsea look on the course of doing so, having put themselves in a good position by defeating the Premier League champions Liverpool last weekend 3-1, a game where Cole Palmer ended his three-month goalless drought with a late spot-kick, nullifying van Dijk pulling a goal back after Enzo Fernandez’s third minute opener and Jarell Quansah’s own goal put them in the driving seat. However, with Nottingham Forest (61) and Aston Villa (60) breathing down their necks, the Blues will be desperate to maintain their three-game winning streak in the league or wave their dream of returning to the Champions League for the first time in two seasons goodbye despote five teams from England earning direct slot to the tournament domestically next season.
NEW vs CHE Recent Form (all competitions)
CHE: WWWWW
NEW vs CHE Recent Form (Premier League)
NEW: WWLWD
CHE: DDWWW
NEW vs CHE Predicted Lineups
Newcastle
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
Chelsea
Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson
NEW vs CHE head-to-head (Premier League)
Played - 59
NEW won - 15
Drawn - 13
CHE won - 31
NEW vs CHE head-to-head (at Newcastle home)
Played - 29
NEW won - 14
Drawn - 6
CHE won - 9
NEW vs CHE Dream11 Match Prediction
Chelsea will be looking to make a Premier League double in this fixture, but their disappointing record at St James’ Park, where Newcastle have been a phenomenon, seems like a tall task. Given the Blues’ poor away form in the league, the Magpies are likely to continue their strong performance at home. We predict a 2-1 win for Eddie Howe’s men.
NEW vs CHE Dream11 Team Top picks
Captain Pick: Alexander Isak
Vice-captain Picks: Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer
Our top picks for the NEW vs CHE Dream11 team are Alexander Isak with 23 goals and 6 assists this season, including a goal in four of the previous five meetings against Chelsea.
NEW vs CHE Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Pope (Cr - 7.5, Pts - 597)
DEF: Schar (Cr - 8, Pts - 814), Burn (Cr - 8, Pts - 601), Cucurella (Cr - 9, Pts - 1037),
MID: Murphy (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 738), Fernandez (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 1329), Palmer (Cr - 9, Pts - 1861), Barnes (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 601)
FW: Neto (Cr - 7.5, Pts - 741), Jackson (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 1001), Isak (Cr - 9, Pts - 932)
Vice-captain: Enzo Fernández
Captain: Alexander Isak
