The final match to be played on Saturday in the English Premier League takes place at St. James' Park as Newcastle United meet Chelsea.
The hosts come into this match in 13th place in the Premier League with 26 points to their name, leaving them 5 points clear of the relegation zone and 3 points behind 9th place Crystal Palace. Chelsea are in 4th place, 5 points clear of Manchester United and 6 points behind 3rd place Leicester City.
Newcastle United were forced to a replay in their FA Cup 3rd round tie against Rochdale which was played on Tuesday night. They had little trouble winning the match at home, defeating their lower league opponents 4-1. Despite being the heavy favourites to win the game it was an important victory for Newcastle United who had gone 5 games without a win in all competitions.
Prior to the victory in the FA Cup, you must go back to the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at home in the Premier League on the 21st of December to find the last time Newcastle United won a match. However, last time out in the league they picked up a good point in a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers to stop a run of 3 successive defeats.
Trends show Newcastle United are undefeated in 10 of their last 12 home Premier League games but they have lost each of the last 2 against Everton and Leicester City. Newcastle United have kept just one clean sheet in their last 7 home Premier League matches.
Chelsea recorded a comfortable 3-0 home win over Burnley in their previous Premier League match. That result means Chelsea have won 3 and drawn one of their last 4 games in all competitions. In addition to the win over Burnley, Chelsea have beaten Arsenal away from home in the Premier League plus Nottingham Forest at home in the FA Cup. The Blues also picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Away form in the Premier League shows Chelsea are undefeated in their last 3 matches, with a win coming at Tottenham Hotspur in addition to the results against Arsenal and Brighton highlighted above. Chelsea are on a run of 7 wins in their last 10 away league games and in their last 13 away games in all competitions, Chelsea have scored at least two goals on 9 occasions.
Team news and Newcastle United have a long list of potential absentees which include Yoshinori Muto, Fabian Schär, Dwight Gayle, Javier Manquillo, Paul Dummett and Sung-Yueng Ki. Allan Saint-Maximin should be available.
Chelsea travel without Christian Pulisic who has a tendon injury. Marcos Alonso, Marco Van Ginkel and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all doubts.
This is a tough match for the home team and Chelsea will feel confident of taking maximum points from this game while scoring a few goals in the process.