Chelsea return to Premier League action with a trip to Newcastle United on Saturday, and the Blues will be keen to continue their upward momentum from before the international break.
Frank Lampard’s men have won four league games, drawn three and lost once so far in 2020-21, and they will fancy their chances of leaving St. James’ Park with all three points tomorrow.
Newcastle have won three, lost three and drawn twice so far, and no-one can predict which version of Steve Bruce’s men will turn up against Chelsea given their fluctuating form.
The Magpies headed into the international break on the back of a 2-0 loss at Southampton while the Blues secured a 4-1 win over Sheffield United, and both teams will be going after a victory at SJP.
TEAM NEWS
Newcastle remain without Martin Dubravka, Dwight Gayle, DeAndre Yedlin and Paul Dummett due to injuries, while Ryan Fraser is also ruled out having pulled out of the Scotland squad with a hamstring injury.
Callum Wilson could feature as he trained with the team this week after scans showed he avoided a serious hamstring issue a fortnight ago.
Matt Ritchie and Jonjo Shelvey have both returned to training, but Saturday’s game could be too soon for the latter and he has been ruled out of playing.
Chelsea will be without Christian Pulisic for the trip, and Kai Havertz is also expected to miss out due to fitness issues despite returning a negative coronavirus test and returning to personal training.
Ben Chilwell sustained a knock during international duty and it remains to be seen whether he will feature against Newcastle.
Thiago Silva could be rested after returning from South America from the international break, while Hakim Ziyech could start the game from the bench after his trip.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
Newcastle Predicted XI
3-5-2
Darlow
Fernandez, Lascelles, Schar
Murphy, Hendrick, Hayden, Longstaff, Lewis
Saint-Maximin, Wilson
Chelsea Predicted XI
4-2-3-1
Mendy
James, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso
Kante, Kovacic
Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Werner
Abraham
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
