Newcastle United host Chelsea at St James’ Park on Saturday, with both sides returning to Premier League action after midweek EFL Cup quarter-final victories.
Newcastle booked their place in the semi-finals
with a 2-1 home win over Fulham, settled by Lewis Miley’s stoppage-time goal. That result followed last weekend’s 1-0 league defeat at Sunderland, leaving Eddie Howe’s side 12th in the table after 16 matches.
Newcastle, however, remain within four points of the top five and continue to rely heavily on home form. The Magpies have collected nearly three-quarters of their league points at St James’ Park and have scored exactly twice in each of their last five home league games.
Recent history against Chelsea at home is positive for the Geordies. Newcastle have won their last three league meetings with the Blues at St James’ Park and have beaten them 2-0 in each of the last two encounters overall.
Chelsea arrive following a 3-1 EFL Cup win at Cardiff City and a 2-0 league victory over Everton. Enzo Maresca’s side sit in the top four and boast one of the league’s strongest defensive records, with eight clean sheets so far. Away from home, Chelsea have kept four clean sheets in their last five league matches.
Newcastle will remain stretched defensively, with multiple absences including Nick Pope, Dan Burn, Sven Botman and Kieran Trippier. Lewis Hall is a doubt, but could play if needed, according to Howe.
Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk
On Tino Livramento…
“We don’t think it’s a serious injury. The complication we have is that Tino has injured that knee before in a very similar area.
“That always makes the potential recovery time a little bit longer. I don’t think we’ll see him possibly before 2026.”
On Lewis Hall’s availability to face his former club…
“He could be [available for tomorrow]. He felt some fatigue in his hamstring after the Sunderland game so he had a scan which didn’t reveal too much so we’ll see.”
On Alex Murphy, with the Irish defender making his Premier League bow against Chelsea during the 2023/24 campaign…
“In an important moment for the team, Alex did really well. He’s someone who has trained with us for a long time but hasn’t had any major game exposure with us.
“He’s had a lot of training time, a lot of development and a good loan spell (at Bolton Wanderers last season). He’s someone we trust and performances like that will do him good for the long term.”
On facing Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup…
“I don’t think there was an ideal draw for us with the quality of the teams left. Our preference would have been to play at home in the second leg as we did last year. That was the bigger thing rather than the opponent.
“It is what it is, we’re in a major competition and you’re going to play the top teams. We had to do that last year, having to beat everyone to win that cup, and we’re going to have to do the same again.”
On Saturday’s opponents…
“I think they’re progressing and continuing to get better. There’s been a lot of change at Chelsea over recent seasons. They’ve gone very youthful with their recruitment and I think long term, you’ll definitely see the benefits of that.
“A very good manager, style of play and team. It’s a short recovery time for us, a big challenge this week but we’re looking forward to that. We like the early kick-offs so anything we can do to help swing this in our direction is important.”
On Lewis Miley…
“Lewy did really well on Wednesday. Really pleased with him. Great goal, great composure and a strong performance. Every game is so different tactically, the challenges posed by every team is different so I’ll have to try to pick the right team.”
Howay!
- Date: Saturday, December 20th
- Kick-off: 14:30 BST / 7:30 EST
- Location: St. James’ Park, Newcastle (England)
For all your watching needs, check LiveSoccerTV.
