St James' Park , 13:30 local time.
Preview and team news:
Chelsea
Chelsea are being revisited by their old foe, the end of the year curse. Injuries in crucial areas of the team and some off field events have had a major impact on the team. The blues have only won the last 3 of their 6 games in the premiership, losing the other 3 and have dropped from being the most in form team to the 10th best in form which is 4 places behind Newcastle and even below teams like Stoke , Blackburn and Bolton, Who have all had better results in their last 6 games. However the incredible start to the season has still kept us on top of the league but that is just by goal difference. After successive defeats, against Sunderland an Birmingham, Chelsea will be aware that they last lost three successive Premier League games in October 1999, 11 years ago.
John Terry who was supposed to have miraculously recovered from his injury is still likely to miss this one and Frank Lampard is also likely to miss it or start from the bench. Alex who has delayed his surgery is favorite to start at CB alongside Ivanovic. Bosingwa is available to start at RB to make the defense more solid. Essien remains banned and Yuri Zhirkov will have to undergo a test before he can play.
Newcastle
After many inconsistent performances week after week. Newcastle have started to climb up the table but they themselves have not won the last 3 games , losing 2 and drawing the third one. They sit 10th on the table. Newcastle have scored alot of goals this season but do concede as many.
Newcastle are still without Joey Barton, banned by the FA, while central defenders Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson are both banned. Coloccini was sent off at Bolton and, on Wednesday, Williamson was also suspended after the FA handed him a three game ban following a clash of heads with Johan Elmander last weekend.
As a result, Sol Campbell could start a Premier League game for the first time for Newcastle. At least Cheik Tiote is available after a one-game ban.
But Ryan Taylor (ankle), Hatem Ben Arfa (broken leg), Steve Harper (broken collar bone) and Dan Gosling (knee ligaments) are all missing for Newcastle.
Head to Head
Chelsea---------------------Newcastle
14------------Played-----------14
28------------Points------------18
9---------------Won-------------5
1--------------Drawn------------3
4---------------Lost--------------6
28------------Scored-----------22
9------------Conceded---------21
1---------League Position-----10
Chelsea-----------------------Fulham
WWLWLL--------Form------WWWLDL
Recent Meetings
Chelsea have won 2-0 in their last two Premier League visits to St James’ Park but when the teams met in the Carling Cup, at Stamford Bridge in September, Newcastle won 4-3.
Stat of the game
In 65 league visits, Chelsea have won just 15 times.
Betting tip
Chelsea must win to keep United on their tails; a 2-1 away victory is 15-2.
My Team
-----------------------Cech---------------------------
Bosingwa-----Alex---------Ivanovic------Cole--
|-----------------------Mikel----------------------\--
|------Ramires-------------------------Josh-----|---
-\->----|-Anelka-------------Malouda--|-------|---
----------\---\--------Drogba-----/-----/-----<-/---
Chelsea News, Chat , Downloads and More!
