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28 min Chelsea are having a lot more of the ball, though it’s largely with Newcastle’s permission. The contrast in styles is really fascinating.
26 min Barnes, off balance, shoots straight at Sanchez after a good run infield from Murphy. Probably about 0.1 on the old xG.
23 min Newcastle played this system against Arsenal in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final and they are using exactly the same tactics: ferocious start, early goal, then sit deep with your back five and pick them off on the break.
21 min Murphy (I think) shapes a brilliant pass around Cucurella towards Barnes, forcing Sanchez to charge out of his area and clear. Excellent sweeper-keeping.
20 min Palmer has a long-range shot deflected wide. Newcastle are still on top but there have been one or two promising signs for Chelsea.
19 min: Chance for Isak! A long free-kick is headed back across goal by Botman towards Isak, 12 yards out and just beyond the far post. He slams the bouncing ball into the ground and Sanchez makes a comfortable save.
I thought the bounce made it an awkward chance but Ally McCoist on TNT Sports thinks he should have done better. Only one of us scored 13 goals on the astroturf at Latimer Road on 29 July 2002, that’s all I’m saying.
17 min Chelsea suddenly find themselves with a three-on-three break. Neto plays a good pass across the field to Jackson, who takes a heavy touch and then overhits his cross.
16 min Chelsea just need to stay in the game. They know Newcastle can’t sustain this tempo for 90 minutes, but if they get another goal soon they might not need to.
13 min Barnes plays a one-two with Isak and stands up a deep cross that is headed towards the edge of the area by Caicedo. Guimaraes shapes to lay it off, then tries a surprise chest-volley that goes over the bar. Nice idea.
12 min “Interesting to note that the entire Chelsea outfield defenders all have names beginning with C,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Not only that, they’ve kindly arranged themselves in alphabetical order by second letter: a, h, o and u. Not that it’s done them much good in the opening minutes...”
Are you calling them a cack four?
11 min Gordon storms away from Neto and cuts the ball back to Livramento just inside the area. He can’t decide whether to shoot or pass and in the end does neither.
Anthony Gordon is on fire.
10 min Caicedo fouls Gordon, who looks extremely sharp, and is maybe fortunate to avoid a yellow card. Moments later, Barnes’ shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Colwill. Newcastle have made their trademark blistering start at St James’.
7 min Barnes is okay. Turns out it was a clash of knees with Chalobah so he just needed a couple of minutes for the pain to subside.
6 min That really was the best of Sandro Tonali, particularly the way he swarmed all over Romeo Lavia to win the ball back. What a fabulous player he is, and what mental strength he has shown after
5 min Harvey Barnes is down and needs treatment. Doesn’t look great.
The corner was cleared and Gordon hared down the field, all the way into the area. He went down after a lean/shove from Caicedo, prompting a big shout for a penalty that was turned down. Tonali won the loose ball off Lavia just outside the penalty area and quickly gave it to Isak. He swept it out to the right wing-back Murphy, who slid a superb low cross into the space between goalkeepers and defenders.
It was missed by the lunging Isak in the middle and reached Tonali, who had backed up the play, five yards out at the far post. He stunned a first-time shot into the ground and over the diving Sanchez. No idea whether he meant that finish but it worked perfectly because Sanchez was already on his way down.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea (Tonali 2)
The Chelsea corner leads to a goal – for Newcastle!
1 min Chelsea kick off from left to right as we watch and win a corner inside 20 seconds. Newcastle have started, as we expected, with three centre-backs.
A cracking stat from Darren Fletcher on TNT Sports. This is the first time since December 2018 that Chelsea have named the same side for three consecutive Premier League games. And that team, since you asked, was:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Willian, Pedro, Hazard.
A reminder of the teams, who are walking into the Newcastle sunshine as I type.
Newcastle (possible 3-4-3) Pope; Schar, Botman, Burn; Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes Tonali, Livramento; Gordon, Isak, Barnes.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Ruddy, Lascelles, Wilson, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff, Miley, Neave.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Enzo; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin, Badiashile, Acheampong, Gusto, James, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho, George.
Referee John Brooks.
“Four of the Chelsea back five played for Brighton (Sanchez, Caicedo, Colwill on loan, Cucurella),” notes Simon Dobinson. “Did they all play for Brighton at the same time? If they stayed at Brighton would Brighton now be in a Champions League spot? Do Chelsea fans think £220m is value for money?
“Of course, you could add Dan Burn to that list as well, and although Sanchez is a liability a back five of Sanchez – Caicedo – Colwill – Burn – Cucurella is a pretty solid Brighton defence. They will all be playing Champions League next year and Brighton will once again be challenging for .. um .. 10th?!
“Good old Sussex by the sea …”
So are we now saying Brighton lack ambition? That’s a volcanic take. Btw I don’t think they played together – I think Cucurella was sold the same summer that Colwill joined on loan.
“Was wondering over the week, where I watched my club go out of the Champions League with strength but not quite enough of it, I did wonder... Would Newcastle do well against this PSG team?” writes Kieran McKintosh. “Physical midfields. Lightning-quick forward lines. Towering defenders. PSG have the better goalie, but other than that I did wonder if Newcastle have the tools to give them more of a run for their money.”
They thrashed them last season, didn’t they? A different PSG, I realise, but it supports your argument. I was surprised just how much Arsenal’s fast start unnerved PSG on Wednesday night. That said, I still think they’re the best team in Europe and I wonder whether Inter’s approach might be more effective. If you go after PSG, the chances are you’ll be picked off, what, nine times out of 10?
And Enzo Maresca’s
We have three more games so this won’t define the season, but for sure this is an important game.
We played Everton and Liverpool with the same team as today. They are doing well and it’s good to continue that.
We anticipate a tough game. Nice environment, tough opponent. They will be very, very aggressive, we know that, so hopefully we can be ready.
Eddie Howe’s pre-match thoughts
[Is it a season-defining game?] Yeah, I think it is. We know the importance of the game. You can see how tightly packed it is, especially after yesterday’s results. The onus is on to break that down and focus on the game.
[On the absence of Trippier and Willock] They both have minor injuries from our last game. Hopefully we’ll see them before the end of the season; there’s no guarantee on that. But we bring in two outstanding players (Botman and Gordon). Slight readjustment but hopefully the two guys who come in will play well.
They’ve got really good attacking players, good pace in their team. We anticipate a really good game today. We’re at home so we need to use that to our advantage.
Louise Taylor
An unusually warm north east sun means that there are a lot of men in shorts heading to St James’ Park. Many of them will have taken advantage of Newcastle’s offer of a free pint of beer or cider or a bottled soft drink to those arriving at the ground before 11am. The idea is to lift what club executives fear could be a slightly muted atmosphere ahead of an unusually early kick off.
Presumably they feel the subsequent release of inhibitions will inspire Eddie Howe’s players, while the initial outlay is likely to be recouped by fans buying second and third pints. The interesting thing in this assumption is that the 2022 World Cup in Doha was effectively dry but, for all the legitimate criticisms around Qatar hosting the tournament, the atmosphere within stadiums was excellent.
No alcohol was needed to get the stands rocking - and an additional benefit was that it created a much safer environment, for women in particular. Moreover on a day when, being Sunday, public transport is limited - and non existent in some areas - and a high percentage of fans will drive to the game is it really sensible to encourage them to drink?
On the pitch for this High Noon duel with Chelsea there is a blow for Newcastle as the latterly influential Kieran Trippier has failed a fitness test. This dictates Dan Burn will almost certainly start at left back, leaving Tino Livramento to revert to the right. With Joe Willock also out injured, Howe recalls Anthony Gordon for his first start since March. With Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes also starting, that means Newcastle have three wingers on the pitch.
The Champions League mini-league table
It’s auto-generated, I’m not trolling Brentford.
In the return fixture, a 2-1 win for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Cole Palmer played one of the passes of the season. As nobody once said, genius gonna genius.
“G'day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas, our antipodean Geordie. “Hope you’re well! Currently out with Mum for dinner (Mother’s Day festivities... got her a present in the hope it’ll score me an early mark... not that she runs my life, I’m an adult now.)
“Gordon and Botman coming back is heartening, although Trippier had really played his way into form in recent weeks. Whether Burn will be exposed in that left-back spot is the big question, though he’s deceptively mobile.
“This is a massive game for us: a win would almost get us to that crucial UCL spot but a loss could be catastrophic (particularly if we start playing poorly and I’m in public).
“I better get going: Num is staring at me.”
I wonder whether the formation is a back five, with Livramento at left wing-back (against the right-footed Neto) and Murphy at right wing-back against the left-footed Madueke.
Read Louise Taylor and Jacob Steinberg's preview
Who needs to shine if they are to win?
Chelsea: Nothing fancy here – you can’t look past Cole Palmer. The 23-year-old makes Chelsea tick and his mojo was back against Liverpool. A late penalty ended an 18-match goal drought and there was encouragement from a performance full of Palmer’s trademark creative genius.
Not that Chelsea are a one-man team. Moisés Caicedo was named the club’s player of the year last week. The midfielder has continued to excel since being deployed as an auxiliary right-back. The ploy has allowed Enzo Maresca to put Romeo Lavia next to Enzo Fernández, who has been in fine goalscoring form. Nicolas Jackson’s return from a hamstring injury has also sharpened the attack. As for the defence, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah will have to be at their best against Alexander Isak.
Team news
Two enforced changes for Newcastle from the draw at Brighton last weekend. Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon replace the injured pair of Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock. That either means a change of formation (4-2-3-1? 3-4-3?) or a move back into midfield for Jacob Murphy.
Botman hasn’t started a game since the Carabao Cup semi-final win over Arsenal in early February; Gordon is back in the XI for the first time since being sent off against Brighton in the FA Cup on 2 March.
Chelsea stick with the team that beat Liverpool 3-1.
Newcastle (possible 3-4-3) Pope; Schar, Botman, Burn; Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes Tonali, Livramento; Gordon, Isak, Barnes.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Ruddy, Lascelles, Wilson, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff, Miley, Neave.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Enzo; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin, Badiashile, Acheampong, Gusto, James, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho, George.
Referee John Brooks.
Preamble
Here we have an English top-flight match played in mid-May between the teams in fourth and fifth place. Once upon a time that would have been a dead rubber. Dodo-dead. Doornail-dead. Dead.
Not anymore. Newcastle and Chelsea meet at St James’ Park this lunchtime in a match that is alive with importance, narrative and – how could we forget – cold, hard, PSR-eligible cash.
Both teams are desperate to qualify for the Champions League next season; both know that, if they lose, they will probably finish the day outside the top five. With three games to go they are level on points and goal difference, with Newcastle ahead on goals scored. That’s where the similarities end. The clash of styles – Newcastle’s high tempo against Chelsea’s patient possession – adds another layer to the contest.
The lack of a title race – at one time we thought Liverpool v Arsenal would be a decider – or relegation battle has also increased the anticipation ahead of this game.. It’s not Liverpool v Arsenal in 1989, sure, or even the alternate-reality Liverpool v Arsenal in 2025. But the mouth never lies, and right now it’s watering big-time.
Kick off 12pm.
