Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton doesn’t expect the Blues to come back away from Newcastle with anything on Saturday afternoon.
Enzo Maresca’s side arrive at St James’ Park after back-to-back wins over Everton within the Premier League and Cardiff City within the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Newcastle were also in League Cup motion in midweek, knocking Fulham out on the quarter-final stage, but haven’t been in great form on the whole.
The victory over the Cottagers was a lift after a woeful performance in defeat to Sunderland of their previous outing.
Nonetheless, Sutton fancies the Magpies to down the Blues on Saturday lunchtime, pointing to the recent history between the edges at St James’ Park.
Chelsea’s last 4 trips to Newcastle, in all competitions, have resulted in defeat, with their last victory under Thomas Tuchel in 2021.
Maresca took his side to St James’ twice last season and each games ended 2-0 to the house side.
Despite injury concerns for Newcastle, Sutton expects them to maintain up their recent success at home against the west London outfit.
Sutton’s rating prediction
Sutton told the BBC, as he predicted a 2-1 home win: ‘Each teams won within the Carabao Cup in midweek, however it appears like Newcastle’s squad is being stretched more in the meanwhile.
‘There may be a worry for Chelsea too, though, by way of what is going on with Enzo Maresca. He is clearly unhappy about something, and if there’s some type of infighting happening, or if he feels he just isn’t being backed properly, then that doesn’t bode well no matter what happens on the pitch.
‘I definitely don’t think Maresca’s issues are together with his team’s performances. His side are very principled in the best way they play and they’ll cause Newcastle problems.
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‘I’m still going to go together with the Magpies to win it, though. I normally back them at home anyway, but that is prediction is principally based on Chelsea’s recent record at St James’ Park, which is poor – they’ve not got anything there since 2021.’
Injury problems for Newcastle and Chelsea
Chelsea shall be without Estevao, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia and Levi Colwill for the trip north.
Newcastle are coping with a string of injuries, especially in defence, where Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are all out.
Lewis Hall and Nick Pope are doubts, but could play on Saturday, while Yoane Wissa is accessible after his goal-scoring return to fitness against Fulham.
‘He played thoroughly. His movement was excellent and his fitness was excellent,’ said Howe of the summer signing from Brentford. ‘He played longer than we had planned as he desired to stay on and rating more goals. It was a extremely good start for him.’
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