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Newcastle United host Chelsea at St James’ Park today in a huge game in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
A win for Eddie Howe’s side would put them on the brink of securing Champions League football - and severely dent their opponents’ hopes of a top-five finish. Enzo Maresca’s side, though, head to the north east in good form and secured a 3-1 win over Liverpool last weekend to ensure they will begin the game level on points with their hosts in the Premier League table.
The Magpies lost the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge back in October, but were able to exact their revenge just a few days later when they triumphed in the Carabao Cup - a significant win en route to eventually defeating Liverpool at Wembley. Newcastle enjoy a good recent home record against Chelsea, winning back-to-back games against the Blues in the league plus their League Cup win in October.
Here, ahead of today’s huge game, we take a look at everything supporters need to know about Newcastle United v Chelsea - including why kick-off is at a slightly unusual time.
Newcastle United v Chelsea TV channel
Newcastle United’s clash with Chelsea will be shown live on TNT Sports in the United Kingdom. Coverage on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate begins at 11am. The match can also be streamed online through Discovery +.
Newcastle United v Chelsea midday kick-off time explained
Midday on a Sunday is not a normal kick-off slot for Premier League matches, with this game being a rare exception. TNT Sports, who will broadcast the game, have the rights for the lunchtime Saturday kick-off.
Those games usually kick-off at 12:30pm before the traditional 3pm games get underway. However, Chelsea’s participation in the Conference League means they cannot play a league game on Saturday, and thus the match was moved to Sunday.
The 12pm kick-off, as is the modern way, stems from the demands of TV companies with a midday kick-off allowing the clash at St James’ Park to conclude before the 2pm match, played between Nottingham Forest and Leicester City at the City Ground, gets underway. That game, as well as Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool (4:30pm kick-off) will be broadcast by Sky Sports.
Newcastle United injury news v Chelsea
Howe will be without a few players for Sunday’s game, with the biggest and most recent absence coming in the form of Joelinton who may miss the remainder of the campaign with a knee injury. The Brazilian has missed their last two outings and is not expected to return this season.
Lewis Hall will not feature against his former club, whilst Matt Targett’s season is also over after he suffered a hamstring injury. Jamaal Lascelles will also not feature this weekend as he continues his recovery from an ACL injury.
Lascelles hasn’t featured since March last year and whilst there is hope that he could return to action this season, a return in pre-season ahead of the new campaign is a much more likely and realistic option for the club captain.
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