Chelsea take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday and this game will not be an easy one by any stretch of the imagination.
The Magpies have been in stellar form this year and the team who were once doomed for relegation are now 10 points clear from the drop zone. In the first half of the season, this would have been an easy three-pointer for the Blues but there’s every chance that Chelsa might stumble on Sunday.
Chelsea have won their previous four league matches including a 3-1 win over Norwich on Thursday but Thomas Tuchel’s men will have to be on their toes this weekend. The London side are still comfortably holding onto the third spot but they need to keep winning matches to make sure that teams like Arsenal do not catch up with them.
Chelsea head to France to take on Lille in the Champions League in midweek so Tuchel will have one eye on that match as well which is why the manager might look to rest some of his regular players on Sunday.
Chelsea team news vs Newcastle:
Reece James has picked up another muscle injury so he will miss out on Sunday and even Azpilicueta is a doubt for Sunday because of stomach cramps.
Last week, Tuchel had updated on James’ injury: “He has muscular problems in his other leg, not the previously injured leg. We need further examinations.”
The best possible start!
🟡 0-1 🔵 [8’] #NorChe pic.twitter.com/bK06SrIJ95
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 10, 2022
Marcos Alonso has tested positive so he too will miss out meaning Thomas Tuchel currently does not have any full-back who’s perfectly fit. This will force the manager to use some players out of position, particularly in the two wing-back roles.
Christensen will likely slot into the right wing-back role and Malang Sarr will hopefully play on the left-hand side. Saul Niguez played as the left wing-back against Norwich but the kind of form that Newcastle United are in right now, we don’t think the Chelsea boss will use Saul this weekend.
Pulisic missed the Norwich win due to an illness and keeping the Lille game in mind, we think the American will be rested on Sunday as well.
Tuchel had said: “He did not feel well in the morning. He had two bad nights and felt sick. Had a change of temperature, felt hot and then cold. So we decided to leave him at home to rest.”
Influential. 👊 pic.twitter.com/91AwRmd746
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 11, 2022
Romelu Lukaku seems to have fallen down the pecking order but if Tuchel wants to rotate his players then the Belgian international should be replacing Kai Havertz as the main centre-forward.
But then, Havertz had another great outing last week, scoring one and assisting another goal so it will be really tough to keep him out of the starting line up.
Chelsea predicted line up vs Newcastle United:
Predicted Starting Line up(3-4-2-1): Mendy; Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Chalobah; Sarr, Christensen, Kante, Kovacic; Mount, Hakim Ziyech; Lukaku/Kai Havertz.
