Birds fly outside St James' Park.
To St James’ Park! Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
Eddie Howe talks to TNT Sports: “We want lots of goalmouth action, there’s no better feeling than when you look like scoring goals. We want to pay the fans back for all their support, and the horrible feeling we gave them against Sunderland.”
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As for Chelsea, there’s just one change from the team that beat Everton in the league last weekend – with Moises Caicedo replacing Enzo Fernández in midfield. Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho, who came off the bench to earn Carabao Cup victory in Cardiff, both start today.
Newcastle make three changes from the defeat to Sunderland, with two Jacobs coming in – Ramsey in midfield and Murphy on the right wing. Anthony Elanga drops to the bench, while Lewis Miley slots in at right-back, as he did against Fulham in the League Cup, where he popped up with the winning goal. Tino Livramento and Dan Burn have both joined Eddie Howe’s long injury list, but Lewis Hall is fit to start today.
Newcastle United (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall; Guimarães, Tonali, Ramsey; Jacob Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon.
Subs: Ruddy, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Willock, Alex Murphy, Shahar, Neave.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Pedro Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; João Pedro.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Fernandez, Santos, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.
Referee: Andrew Madley. VAR: Peter Bankes.
Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Craig Taylor.
Two teams, and two head coaches, on similar paths converge at St James’ Park this afternoon. Newcastle and Chelsea both earned Carabao Cup wins in midweek that partially papered over their recent troubles – but Eddie Howe and Enzo Maresca have both struggled to build any real momentum so far this season.
Newcastle are 12th in the league, but only six points behind today’s opponents, who sit fourth. In the last month, they have beaten Manchester City at home, run riot at Everton, slipped up twice in the Champions League (where they also sit 12th) and served up a miserably meek performance in the derby defeat to Sunderland.
Chelsea’s form has been slightly better – save for a defeat to Atalanta that leaves them just behind Newcastle in the European standings. Just like their hosts, though, they are prone to tepid displays whenever a hot streak is threatened. Maresca’s recent comments have only served to turn up the heat, making him more vulnerable on those bad days.
A little pressure, then, on both dugouts as we head into the fabled busy festive period. It could make for a very watchable game. Kick-off is at 12.30pm (GMT).