Chelsea v Newcastle predictions: Blues motivated to put in a strong showing

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Chelsea v Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 2pm Sunday

Best bet

Chelsea to win & under 3.5 goals
1pt 21-20 BoyleSports

Team news

Chelsea
Ben Chilwell and Reece James are sidelined and Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta are doubts.

Newcastle
Injured trio Callum Wilson, Isaac Hayden and Kieran Trippier are definite absentees while Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton also look set to miss out. Fabian Schar (groin) is also a doubt.

Match preview

Chelsea’s future has been thrown into doubt following UK government sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich and the Premier League’s decision to disqualify the Russian as a club director.

On the pitch, however, there was an immediate positive response to the ownership drama on Thursday when Thomas Tuchel’s men won 3-1 at Norwich and another three points should follow against Newcastle on Sunday.

This fixture looks like being the last opportunity this season for Chelsea players to run out in front of a packed Stamford Bridge crowd and they might feel a little extra responsibility to put on a show.

Winning the Premier League looks well beyond Tuchel's side but they will be keen to get a top-four finish wrapped up as soon as possible, allowing them to focus their energies on maintaining a strong challenge in the Champions League and FA Cup.

Tuchel has a few selection concerns and could be without his first and second-choice right wing-backs with Reece James sidelined and Cesar Azpilicueta battling to overcome a stomach injury. But he is overloaded with quality in most areas of the pitch and seems certain to recall all-action midfielder N'Golo Kante, who was restricted to a cameo role at Carrow Road.

Chelsea are used to coming up against massed defences whenever they play at Stamford Bridge and this game is unlikely to be any different as Newcastle aim to extend a remarkable unbeaten sequence of nine Premier League games.

Magpies manager Eddie Howe had looked a worried man in the early stages of his Newcastle tenure but he was all smiles this week when picking up the Premier League manager of the month award for February.

Howe's team have risen from 19th to 14th over the last five weeks and they demonstrated their increasing assurance and resilience when coming from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton on Thursday.

They are now within sight of a top-half finish and their revival has come about without six-goal top scorer Callum Wilson, who hasn't been involved since the turn of the year.

Persistent injuries have also afflicted livewire attacker Allan Saint-Maximin, who has not started a game for four weeks, and there are ongoing fitness doubts over the Frenchman, who was not involved in the success over Southampton.

Solid defence has been key with Newcastle conceding just four goals in their last seven matches, but Swiss centre-back Fabian Schar - one of many players to have enjoyed a renaissance under the new regime - is an injury doubt to face Chelsea, and his absence could give the home side all the encouragement they need.

Given Newcastle's massive improvement it would be unwise to expect a vintage Chelsea performance, but a low-scoring home victory should be enough to give Blues fans a happy ending to a worrisome week.

Key stat

Three of Chelsea's last five home games have been victories which have featured under 3.5 goals.

Inside info

Chelsea

Penalty taker Jorginho/Kai Havertz
Free-kick wizard Mason Mount
Set-piece aerial threat Antonio Rudiger
Card magnet N'Golo Kante

Newcastle

Penalty taker Chris Wood
Free-kick wizardJonjo Shelvey
Set-piece aerial threatChris Wood
Card magnetJonjo Shelvey

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