Newcastle United expected starting XI at Chelsea - with FOUR changes and Joelinton decision
Newcastle United are in action for the second time in four days with a difficult trip to Chelsea.
But there is nothing to fear for Eddie Howe’s side, who are riding a crest of a wave in the Premier League at the moment.
Thursday night’s 2-1 win at Southampton, where Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes were on the scoresheet, extended the club’s unbeaten run to nine matches.
That opened up a 10-point advantage over the relegation zone. United sit on 31 points, a tally that would have been enough for safety last season.
Howe is expected to rotate his starting XI for the visit to Stamford Bridge to deal with the physical demand of Southampton and now Chelsea.
On facing Thomas Tuchel’s side, Howe said: “It’s a very special place to play football.
“They have top players, the stadium is quite close to the pitch, there’s a really good atmosphere and they’ve got a top manager.
“I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Thomas (Tuchel), he’s done an incredible job. We’ll need to be at our very best.
“It’s an incredibly difficult ground to get anything from. It’s that kind of game where you need to get everything right or you won’t get anything from it.”
Here, we take a look at the Newcastle United starting XI Howe could name against Chelsea:
That opened up a 10-point advantage over the relegation zone. United sit on 31 points, a tally that would have been enough for safety last season.
9. RW: Jacob Murphy
The former Norwich City winger is enjoying a decent run in the side following Allan Saint-Maximin’s absence. A start at Stamford Bridge would be fifth in a row.
10. LW: Miguel Almiron (in for Ryan Fraser)
Fraser has run himself into the ground in recent weeks, with his workrate matching his quality. A rest against Chelsea would be more than earned, whereas Almiron has struggled for minutes since Howe’s arrival.
11. ST: Chris Wood
Wood scored his first Newcastle goal at the eighth attempt to level proceedings at St Mary’s. Certainly, the former Burnley striker will hope that is the first of many.