Louise Taylor’s match report
Time to wrap things up, but there’s loads more live action to come, including four more Premier League games and a clásico of huge significance. Thanks for your company and emails – bye!
Eddie Howe talks to TNT Sports
The first half we were really, really good. The sending-off changed the game, and with the scoreline it became a tricky second half for us mentally. The message was to attack but on the pitch it felt different. Chelsea changed and tweaked things and made it difficult for us tactically, so congratulations to them, but we hung in there.
The second half was stressful. I was pleased with how we defended. Nick made two magnificent saves for us and you can’t forget the part he played today.
[On starting with a back three] We always look at the opposition and see what the best system would be. We also lost Kieran [Trippier] and Joe Willock so we had to think about the balance of the team. It was a mixture of both things.
Having three centre-halves [in the first half] helped us defensively but we still looked a threat the other way. That’s the key thing – some of our attacking play was really good. We just needed the second goal at that stage.
[On Nicolas Jackson’s sending off] For me it was a red card but I haven’t seen it again, that was just my initial impression. I don’t want to see red cards in games unless it’s clear and obvious. [Sees it back] The visual cues are there. I’m sure he hasn’t meant to elbow him but it doesn’t look great.
[On the fast start] The way we play has to fit the culture of the club and what the supporters want. They want fast, attacking, aggressive football; that’s perfect for me. I love to try to give them what they want. The start today was amazing – the atmosphere was everything we hoped it would be and then the players delivered.
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Newcastle reaction
Sandro Tonali
We spoke before the game about making a fast start and I think we did that. This win is so important for us.
I like to score at St James’ Park but I was a little bit lucky on the goal. The shot was so soft [that it went over the diving Sanchez].
A topless Dan Burn
Huge. We said that the cup final was our biggest game but this was the next one after. It wasn’t pretty but we got the job done so I don’t really care.
Sometimes it’s harder when they go down to 10 men. You feel like you should dominate but there’s always that little bit of you that doesn’t want to let them back into it. The crowd were a bit nervy and we felt a bit nervy. But listen, we’ve been together 3-4 years now, we’ve got that big-game experience and I thought we did really well to see the game out.
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The updated Premier League table
If Forest win at home to Leicester there will be four points separating the six teams in the hunt for Champions League football.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 46 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 36 | 23 | 66 |
| 4 | Man City | 36 | 24 | 65 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 36 | 19 | 63 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 36 | 7 | 63 |
| 7 | Nottm Forest | 35 | 12 | 61 |
| 8 | Brentford | 36 | 10 | 55 |
| 9 | Brighton | 36 | 3 | 55 |
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 36 | 12 | 53 |
| 11 | Fulham | 36 | 1 | 51 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 35 | -4 | 46 |
| 13 | Everton | 36 | -5 | 42 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 36 | -13 | 41 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 35 | -9 | 39 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 6 | 38 |
| 17 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 37 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 36 | -42 | 22 |
| 19 | Leicester | 35 | -47 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 36 | -57 | 12 |
Full time: Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea
Newcastle are up to third in the Premier League after a fraught but ultimately deserved victory over Chelsea. They started ferociously, even by their standards, and took the lead in the second minute through Sandro Tonali.
Newcastle were in complete control and the game looked done when Nicolas Jackson was sent off in the 36th minute for slamming his forearm into Sven Botman’s face. But Newcastle couldn’t decide whether to stick or twist and Chelsea’s 10 men dominated the second half.
Nick Pope made two fine saves, Reece James missed a very good headed chance – but Chelsea’s hopes were extinguished when Bruno Guimaraes scored the second in the 90th minute with a deflected shot.
Odd to say, but this could have been a lot worse for Chelsea. They should take great heart from their second-half performance and they know they will almost certainly finish in the top five if they win their last two games: Manchester United (H), Nottingham Forest (A).
Newcastle have Arsenal away and Everton at home. If I’ve read the table correctly – big if – Newcastle’s excellent goal difference means a win in either game will be enough to finish in the top five.
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90+4 min: Double substitution for Newcastle Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson replace Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak.
90+3 min Colwill is booked. He then tries to make a beeline for the referee and is wisely restrained by somebody, possibly James.
90+2 min Five minutes of added time. Schar is down after a challenge from Colwill and it’s threatening to kick off again.
A long free-kick from the right was taken down by Burn and touched infield to Guimaraes, 20 yards out. He veered infield, onto his right foot, and whacked a shot that took a big deflection off Gusto and looped wickedly over the diving Sanchez.
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GOAL! Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea (Guimaraes 90)
The main man gets the job done for Newcastle.
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89 min Caicedo fouls Guimaraes, which leads to a bit of pushing and shoving on both sides. Krafth is booked, Caicedo is not.
Big chance for James!
88 min Chelsea’s best chance of the game. Gusto curls an inviting cross into the area for James, who times his run perfectly but heads over from about eight yards. He got too much on it and put his hands straight to his head in frustration.
88 min Cucurella slips in the area after a nice combination with Fernandez. If Chelsea are lose, it’ll be with honour because they’ve been hugely impressive in the second half.
85 min Caicedo throws Tonali to the ground. He still hasn’t been booked, despite committing almost as many fouls as Richie Tenenbaum did double faults.
85 min In a surprising development, Guimaraes is booked for a foul on Fernandez.
83 min Newcastle are a bag of nerves, players and supporters. Big 10 minutes coming up for both teams.
Good save by Pope!
82 min Chelsea continue to threaten an unlikely equaliser. Neto curls a superb pass across the field to Sancho, who touches the ball back to onrushing Fernandez. He forces a rising shot that is brushed over the bar by the leaping Pope. It might have been clearing the bar anyway but Pope wasn’t to know; it was a really good reaction save.
81 min It’s starting to get a bit niggly. Isak leaves a bit on the ever-popular Cucurella, who shouts at/to somebody on the touchline.
79 min A Chelsea corner is delayed because of a rare old slanging match between Guimaraes and Fernandez. Worth keeping an eye on that.
The corner, eventually taken by Sancho, doesn’t beat the first man.
Big chance for Barnes
78 min Livramento’s clever short reverse pass puts Barnes through on goal, but his touch is unusually heavy – violently heavy – and Sanchez claims.
75 min Murphy’s cross on the turn is just too high for Isak. Newcastle have been better on the ball in the last few minutes and, with Chelsea’s attacking changes, it feels like a goal is coming at one end or another.
75 min: Double substitution for Chelsea Malo Gusto and Jadon Sancho replace Trevoh Chalobah and Romeo Lavia. They’ve done the first bit by staying in the game; now it’s time to take a risk.
73 min Barnes receives a fine return pass from Guimaraes in the area, shapes to shoot and then veers away from Colwill onto his left foot. Colwill reads it perfectly and makes an immaculate tackle.
72 min Even if Chelsea lose this game, they’ll take some positives from the second-half performance. It looked like they could completely unravel after Jackson was sent off.
70 min: Chance for Guimaraes Murphy, who has had a terrific game, clips a sweet pass into the area for Guimaraes. He allows the ball to ran across his body but then leathers it high and wide. That was unusually wild from Guimaraes, especially as his return passes in the final third have been so composed and penetrative today.
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69 min “Eddie might have missed a trick by not changing things up at half-time,” says Chris Paraskevas. “Going to be difficult to wrest the momentum back. Might I suggest Wilson for his hold-up play? Isak has been fairly ordinary recently and his body language doesn’t look quite right (despite consistently scoring key goals in the last few games).”
67 min After another good Chelsea move, James’s cross is slightly too heavy for Cucurella at the far post. Three points would justify Newcastle’s tactics but it does feel like they have allowed Chelsea back into a game that looked all over at half-time.
66 min “When it comes to the sort of red card Jackson got, I always have sympathy with the offending player as the situation is nearly always a case of both players trying to jump or jockey, making a natural levering motion and whoever catches who with the arm gets the card,” says Russell Yong. “And the camera does lie: a player looking behind him might be looking to see where his opponent is to hurt him, or he could just be trying to judge that he isn’t there to be hurt.
“Intent rarely reads well without verbal confirmation, but (and maybe it’s naive) I have faith that most players, even in the heat of games, aren’t out to hurt one another. But intent is a moot point anyway, as the foul simply punishes dangerous play. It’s unfair in the same way that a bicycle kick is either a spectacular goal or a dangerously high boot, but we have to live with it.”
Some really interesting points. Intent is even harder to appraise these days because 99.94 per cent of footballers knowingly try it on with referees all the time. Like the man said: who ya gonna believe?
64 min: Newcastle substitution Emil Krafth is on for Anthony Gordon, which presumably means Jacob Murphy will move back into midfield. Talking of which, Murphy has just been booked for delaying the restart.
Gordon went off like a train and set the tone for Newcastle’s brilliant start.
Fine save by Pope!
62 min It’s all Chelsea now. Lavia plays a superb pass through the lines to Palmer, who sweeps it across to Cucurella on the left side of the area. He takes a touch and rifles a low drive back across goal that forces Pope to change direction and get down to beat the ball away. That’s a really good save.
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61 min Barnes plays a lovely give-and-go with Guimaraes, only to slide his cross far too close to Sanchez. Gordon and Isak were waiting to be served.
60 min If Chelsea can stay in the game, their main attacking options from the bench are Jadon Sancho and Tyrique George.
59 min Chelsea’s ten men have had 78 per cent possession since half time. If it was 11v11 Newcastle’s tactics would make perfect sense. But with the man advantage I thought they might try to put Chelsea away at the start of the second half.
58 min Tonali drives a corner beyond the far post to Isak, who slashes a volley back across goal and wide. Nice idea, very tough chance.
57 min Fernandez releases Cucurella, whose chipped cross is too close to Pope.
Chelsea have done okay in the second half. If they can keep it at 1-0 until the last 10 minutes, St James’ Park will start to get very jittery.
56 min Tomorrow I shall kill again, this time in Dungeness.
55 min: Newcastle substitution Lewis Miley replaces Sven Botman, which presumably means a return to 4-3-3. Botman isn’t injured, there’s nothing to worry about, they’re just managing his minutes after such an injury-hit season.
54 min “Regarding Simon Dobinson’s message pre-kick-off, I’ve noticed a lot of this kind of chat, and not just from keyboard folk but also people talking on podcasts who, in my opinion, should know better,” says Jon Collin. “Brighton are a pretty small club in the scheme of things, they hadn’t been in the top division for all of my lifetime (i.e. a pretty long time) and now are established there.
“They have at least seven enormous clubs above them who exist on a different financial planet. They spent a lot of money last summer but that was earned by several seasons of coining it selling the choicest fruits of their Belgian talent lab to e.g. Chelsea. Now people are going to pi$$ and whine because they ‘only’ finish in the top half. Disband the internet.”
Can I? Can I really? WILL I GET THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?
53 min Schar fouls Fernandez and is booked. Newcastle need to be careful here; they’ve been a bit passive at the start of the second half and are allowing Chelsea into the game.
52 min Livramento seems to be okay. When he first went down it looked like he’d injured his ACL.
51 min The match has been so one-sided that you almost forget it’s still only 1-0. A decent spell of Chelsea possession is a reminder that the job isn’t done yet.
49 min Chelsea are actually playing with James as part of a back three. And he has just eased Gordon to the floor in the area, prompting another unsuccessful penalty appeal from the home fans. Replays show it was a lean rather than a shove.
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48 min He’s on his feet and ready to come back on. That’s very good news because the way his knee jolted when he landed look really nasty.
47 min Tino Livramento landed nastily after an aerial challenge with Neto and has stayed down. It’s a problem with his right knee and the physio is on. They’re trying to flex his knee to test his ACL.
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46 min Chelsea have made a half-time substitution: the club captain Reece James is on for Noni Madueke, which means Caicedo will move into midfield in a 4-4-1 formation. Enzo Fernandez is playing from the left with Neto on the right and Palmer up front.
The Premier League table as things stand
The match between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea on the final day is becoming bigger by the day.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 46 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 36 | 22 | 66 |
| 4 | Man City | 36 | 24 | 65 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 36 | 20 | 63 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 36 | 7 | 63 |
| 7 | Nottm Forest | 35 | 12 | 61 |
| 8 | Brentford | 36 | 10 | 55 |
| 9 | Brighton | 36 | 3 | 55 |
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 36 | 12 | 53 |
| 11 | Fulham | 36 | 1 | 51 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 35 | -4 | 46 |
| 13 | Everton | 36 | -5 | 42 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 36 | -13 | 41 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 35 | -9 | 39 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 6 | 38 |
| 17 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 37 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 36 | -42 | 22 |
| 19 | Leicester | 35 | -47 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 36 | -57 | 12 |
Premier League clockwatch
There are three games kicking off at 2.15pm, including a vital game for Nottingham Forest at home to Leicester. If Newcastle win, Forest will move back into the top five with victory in that game.
Sarah Rendell has all the team news and buildup.
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“I’m all for the benefit of the doubt with swinging arms hitting a player behind as you have eyes on the ball and use your arms to jump and for leverage, etc,” says Hugh Molloy. “However, that all goes out of the window when you visually line a player up and no intent for the ball, definite red.”
I’d argue it’s a bit more nuanced than that. I don’t have oodles of sympathy for Jackson in this case – but you can, in the parlance of our time, do someone without looking. Equally, you can line them up and give them nothing more than a mildly erotic nostril tickle.
But yeah, the look betrays intent of some kind so he was asking for bother. The TNT pundits, Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, both think it was a red card.
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“The Chelsea ‘All-At-C’ back four is entertaining, sure,” says Matt Dony. “But it’s hardly Young Fish Costa Fortune.”
A reference from the early 2000s, Matt? Why so modern?
Half time: Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea
Caicedo, Palmer and a couple of other Chelsea players have words with the referee at half-time. The reality is that they were being outplayed, outsmarted and outrun even before Nicolas Jackson was given a straight red for a forearm smash on Sven Botman.
Sandro Tonali scored in the second minute and bar some promising runs from Pedro Neto, all the threat has come from Newcastle. Tactically, the first half was exactly as Eddie Howe planned.
45+6 min A long free-kick is touched back towards the near post by Livramento. Barnes nips in front of Sanchez and pokes wide. The angle made it a nigh-on impossible chance.
45+5 min Enzo Fernandez is booked for dissent after querying a foul on Gordon by Palmer. Chelsea’s collective noggin isn’t far form going up like a balloon.
45+4 min Neto leads a Chelsea break, running half the length of the field before his shot from the angle is blocked by Botman. Burn couldn’t stay with Neto but did lean on him just enough to slow Neto down and allow Botman to get across.
45+1 min Tonali cuts the ball back to Isak, whose first touch takes the ball away from Cucurella. But it’s all very congested and Sanchez is able to stop Isak getting a shot in.
Six minutes of added time. Against 11 men and 10, Newcastle have been just brilliant.
44 min The resulting corner leads to a header from Burn that is easily saved by Sanchez. Not much of a chance.
Brilliant tackle from Chalobah
43 min Murphy (I think) fires a pass into Guimaraes 20 yards from goal. He opens his body to angle a perfectly weighted first-time pass through to Barnes, whose shot on the run is blocked at source by the flying Chalobah. That’s really good defending. And the pass from Guimaraes was gorgeous.
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42 min “Newcastle’s back three/four/five chameleon routine really did a number on Jackon’s headspace,” says Chris Paraskevas. “He found himself isolated against one or two of the centre-backs almost every time, and lost most duels. And when the ball squirmed free someone in black and white picked up the scraps.
“A pseudo-gegenpress/anti-football/Reverse WM cocktail. Another masterclass from Eddie (and a good thing he didn’t take my advice about Dan Burn as a left back!)”
40 min Out of nothing Chelsea produce their best chance. A low cross from the left reaches Neto, whose first-time shot is crucially blocked by the lunging Burn. I used to think Burn was more mouth than trousers; it’s nice to admit I was completely wrong. He’s been fantastic this season.
39 min Lavia is warned by the referee after fouling Guimaraes. Enzo Maresca is having an animated chat with the fourth official; in fact Maresca has just been booked.
As bad as this is for Chelsea – and it’s bad you know – they are pretty much guaranteed to finish in the top five if they win their last two games against Man Utd and Nottingham Forest.
38 min “I’ll see your 13 five-a-side goals and raise them to the 33 I scored just yesterday,” says Tim Woods. “My six-year-old was totally outclassed and I think he’d say the same himself.”
37 min A mighty header from Dan Burn swerves just wide of the far post. He was offside, so it wouldn’t have counted, but it was almost a mirror image of his goal against Liverpool in the cup final.
Nicolas Jackson is sent off!
36 min That’s a huge moment, and it means Jackson will be suspended for the lat two games of the season as well. It was a routine aerial challenge just past the halfway line. Jackson looked over his shoulder and then administered a forearm smash on Botman. I’m still not sure it’s worse than, say Tyrone Mings’ elbow yesterday, but as Roy Keane always says, don’t give the referee a chance to send you off.
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The referee is going to the monitor!
35 min Nicolas Jackson is in abundant bother.
VAR check for a possible red card
33 min Jackson flattens Botman and is booked. It was a stiff arm to the face, in fact, and VAR are checking this. Not quite enough for a red is my instinct; it was a straight arm rather than an elbow.
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30 min Caicedo again fouls Gordon, this time a gratuitous if relatively soft kick from behind. He’s very lucky he hasn’t been booked.
28 min Palmer tries a very imaginative long pass, designed to put Madueke through on goal. Murphy tracks his run and ushers the ball through to Pope.
Chelsea are having a lot more of the ball now, though it’s largely with Newcastle’s permission. The contrast in styles is really fascinating.
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26 min Barnes, off balance, shoots straight at Sanchez after a good run infield from Murphy. Probably about 0.1 on the old xG.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea (Tonali 2)
The Chelsea corner leads to a goal – for Newcastle!
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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.
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
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Man City | 36 | 24 | 65 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 36 | 7 | 63 |
| 7 | Nottm Forest | 35 | 12 | 61 |
| 8 | Brentford | 36 | 10 | 55 |
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.
Updated
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.
