Newcastle United latest news: Eddie Howe’s side face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday evening (5:30pm kick-off).
Along with Arsenal, Newcastle United were the only other English club to avoid defeat in the first-leg of the Champions League Round of 16 as they were denied a famous win against Barcelona. Chelsea, meanwhile, were beaten 5-2 by PSG at the Parc des Princes and now have a mountain to climb in the second-leg next week.
The Blues twice levelled their hosts, but a late blitz by the reigning European champions ensured they would take a three-goal lead with them to London. PSG’s late resurgence in that tie was aided by some sloppy goalkeeping by Filip Jorgensen, with two poor kicks from the Blues glovesman allowing the Parisians to score.
Jorgensen was surprisingly picked ahead of Robert Sanchez by Liam Rosenior for their trip to the French capital, just a day after a similar decision by Igor Tudor ended in disaster for Tottenham Hotspur against Atletico Madrid.
“Players make mistakes,” Rosenior said at full-time. “Filip’s not the first one and that’s part of football. Credit to him, he held his hands up in the dressing room.
“I make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes they’re more costly. This is one of those moments. What we have to do for Rob and for Filip and for all of the players is look after each other. This is a big test of our character.”
Rosenior now faces a major decision on who to start in goal on Saturday. Does he stick with Jorgensen, or does he revert back to Sanchez?
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A visibly frustrated reaction from Enzo Fernandez after Jorgensen’s second mistake against PSG may hint that the Blues players aren’t totally confident with Jorgensen behind them. Alternatively, Sanchez has also had his performances questioned in recent weeks with Gary Neville taking aim at the former Brighton man during Chelsea’s defeat against Arsenal.
“Chelsea are asking for VAR but Sanchez is all over the place in my view,” he said after the Gunners retook the lead on that day. “There's not a chance of a foul. It's really poor goalkeeping.
“Sanchez has had a really poor day. He got the flight of the ball wrong.”
Newcastle United could exploit Chelsea weakness
Anthony Gordon could be the man Newcastle United turn to on Saturday to try and exploit Chelsea’s uncertainty at the back. Gordon wasn’t named in Eddie Howe’s starting XI on Tuesday night due to illness, but the Magpies will be banking on him being fit for their trip to the Camp Nou next week.
Gordon has been in scintillating form in this season’s Champions League and whilst his domestic form hasn’t hit the same heights, the way Chelsea like to defend could provide Gordon the perfect opportunity to excel on Saturday. Newcastle United’s high press could also be used to disrupt Rosenior’s side from building out from the back and maximise any mistakes made in that area of the pitch by the Blues.
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