League leaders Chelsea head to St James Park to face the newly minted richest club in the world Newcastle United. It is a clash of the ultra-mega-wealthy that pits a Russian oligarch against a Saudi state funded group, as we alluded to in this weeks After Extra Time podcast.
All that aside, the Blues have put together an astonishing run of form that has seen them score sixteen goals in their last five matches whilst only conceding two. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Thomas Tuchels’ men as a much-changed side needed a penalty shootout to defeat Southampton in midweek competition in the Carabao Cup.
Chelsea vs Newcastle FYIs:
Kick-off time: 3 PM GMT, 30 October Saturday
Premier League Preview Podcast: go here
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Chelsea (WWWWW) Newcastle(DDLLD)
Chelsea has a few issues upfront with several players missing from their attack. They also have a couple of players likely to return this weekend. Let’s take a closer look at the team news ahead of the Newcastle clash.
The first issue we should talk about is the injury clouds hovering over both Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku. Both were struck by injury in the first half of the clubs’ last Champions League match against Malmo. Since then Thomas Tuchel has been very cagey when asked about the potential return dates for his two star strikers.
When asked about the duos potential return for this game specifically he gave this rather cryptic response:
“I don’t think it makes sense to go into speculation about how long this is going to be. If we had done this with Christian Pulisic, maybe you would think I’m a liar and I’m hiding something. You never know. Things can be shorter or longer than expected.”
Take from that what you will. I think it’s safe to assume that both will not be considered for selection against the Magpies.
Another who will definitely not be in the matchday squad is Ruben Loftus-Cheek who is suffering from a hip problem that has kept him out of training in the last week or so.
In better news for the Blues Captain America, himself looks set to return from the injury hell he has suffered this season. Christian Pulisic has not featured for the first team since matchday one in the Premier League after picking up an ankle injury on international duty.
Thomas Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference that Pulisic is “very close”. The Team USA superstar is 50/50 to play against Newcastle in huge news that is sure to excite football fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
Diminutive but demonic defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante is also set to return to first-team action. By all accounts, he was fit for the Carabao Cup fixture against Southampton but was rested.
I assume that is with an eye on him making his return in the Premier League this weekend.
In other injury news Veteran Cesar Azpilicueta is back in contention for selection after his shoulder issue and center back Andreas Christensen should be back after tooth surgery kept him out of the teams’ last fixture.
Despite having riches beyond literally any club in the world’s dreams – Newcastle has no hop here and I fully expect Chelsea to maintain their spot at the head of the Premier League table.
