A handful of Premier League pundits have predicted Newcastle United’s nine-game unbeaten Premier League run to come to an end against Chelsea. The Magpies make their second trip south in the space of four days as they’re in the capital to face Thomas Tuchel’s side at Stamford Bridge.
The visitors could not be going into the game in much better form with 16 points from their last six games, a tally bettered only by Liverpool. However, Chelsea are the reigning World and European champions for a reason and are Newcastle’s toughest opponents since the visit of Manchester City to St James’ Park before Christmas.
For that reason, the pundits tasked with predicting this weekend’s Premier League results don’t hold much hope for the Magpies on their travels.
READ MORE: Howe's 'free hit' shift away from cameras shows Newcastle mentality change
Mark Lawrenson – BBC Sport
Starting off with former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson in his weekly column with BBC Sport. He said: “Newcastle have got some breathing space above the bottom three because of their run of results in the past few weeks but I don't see Eddie Howe letting his side take their foot off the pedal.
“All it would take is a run of two or three defeats and they could be right back in trouble. The Magpies are not going to win every week, but maintaining their performance levels is important. I still think Chelsea will win but I'd be surprised if Newcastle play poorly after all the positive work they have done.” Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Michael Owen - BetVictor
Former Toon striker Michael Owen is also fearful of a similar result at Stamford Bridge but expects the away side to get on the scoresheet. He told BetVictor: “It’s clearly been a strange and difficult week for Chelsea off the pitch but on it, they took care of business against Norwich. I really like the way Kai Havertz has been playing of late. He’s becoming the key man for this team in attack. He links the play, makes some great runs, and has started scoring regularly.
“Things keep getting better for Newcastle. That win over Southampton was huge and leaves them on the verge of safety. Bruno Guimaraes arrived with a big reputation and price-tag, but he showed glimpses of it on Wednesday. He hasn’t featured too much, but that back-heeled finish was sublime! Newcastle have shown so much improvement, and they’ll give Chelsea a game here. I still think Chelsea will have too much though, 2-1 to Chelsea.”
David Seaman – Seaman Says
On his very own podcast called Seaman Says, the former England goalkeeper also said he expects Tuchel’s side to be too strong for the visitors. “As much as Newcastle are coming off the back of good performances and good results, I still feel Chelsea are going to have way too much. I’m going to go for 2-0 Chelsea,” he predicted.
Paul Merson – sportskeeda
Finally, in his weekly predictions column with sportskeeda, Paul Merson wasn’t very confident of yet another positive result for Newcastle. He said: “I’m going to be at this game, and I think Chelsea should be able to win. Newcastle beat Southampton this week, and I think that’s it for them – they should be safe in the Premier League now. Chelsea beat Norwich and that’s it for them too – they should make it to the top four.
“Chelsea are in a bit of a situation at the moment. Rudiger’s gone anyway – you don’t refuse to sign a contract and lose eighty grand a week for nothing. When players don’t sign contracts, you can take it for granted that they’ll leave more often than not. Where can you take Chelsea from here? They’re the champions of Europe and they’ve won everything. Whoever buys Chelsea at this point will probably just lose money. They’ll have to start selling players – if they can get their money back for Timo Werner, they’ll probably sell him too.
“Newcastle have been absolutely outstanding to do what they’ve done in the Premier League so far, but I’m going to go with a comfortable Chelsea win. To be fair, I’d probably predict the same result if this fixture was taking place a year from now.” Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United
For the latest Newcastle news direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
