Chelsea vs Newcastle predictions: Another blue day for miserable Magpies
- Chelsea have won six of their last eight games across all competitions
- Newcastle are in ninth place and have failed to win any of their last four league games
- Recommended bet: Chelsea to win and both teams to score
Chelsea performed well in a competitive 2-1 defeat at Anfield last weekend and bounced back decisively with a 4-1 victory at Panathinaikos that continued their overall fine form.
An away trip to London looks like a difficult fixture for a Newcastle side that have only scored twice in a run of four Premier League games without a victory.
Team news
Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to the side that lost to Liverpool for his starting lineup against Panathinaikos.
Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana are available again after serving domestic suspensions, while Joao Felix may be in contention for a start, having scored twice in the Europa Conference League.
Newcastle will be without the injured quintet of Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson.
The stats
Chelsea are the third highest scorers in the Premier League this season, with their 17 goals bettered by only Tottenham and Manchester City.
Newcastle have conceded the fifth highest number of shots in the top flight, at an average of 15.5 per game.
Chelsea have conceded in six of their eight games this season, winning four, drawing two and losing twice.
Despite struggling to score of late, Newcastle have found the net in four of their five away games across all competitions this season.
Prediction
If it comes down to confidence, there should only be one winner when Chelsea meet Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
Many experts expected the new and inexperienced Chelsea manager Maresca to struggle to deal with his huge and imbalanced squad, but the Italian is so far doing a fine job, using cup competitions to rotate his players and keep everyone happy.
While many clubs are fatigued by their European exertions, the Blues effectively have a separate team for the Premier League and they are doing pretty well, though there is room for improvement from a defensive viewpoint.
Newcastle have the opposite problem and are finding goals hard to come by, but with Alexander Isak back in the team, we have to assume that their situation will improve before long and the points will begin to flow again.
Yet it seems unlikely that their fortunes will change this weekend, where Chelsea seem destined to have too much firepower, even if they do tend to concede.
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