Chelsea travel to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon for a Premier League clash against Newcastle United, with the two teams currently fighting very different battles.

It's a fixture which has been played 169 times previously, with the Blues coming out on top on 76 occasions, the Magpies 54 times and it's ended in a draw after 39 of those matches.

Graeme Jones' side sit in 19th place, with only four points to their name and not a single win despite having played nine games already so far this season.

They've recently had the excitement of a Saudi-led takeover to distract from form on the pitch, but with a new manager yet to be confirmed, fans will want to see an upturn in results soon.

Meanwhile Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea are flying high at the top of the Premier League and will be determined to keep a grip on their lead at the summit, even if it is only a slender one point lead.

They've had an excellent start to the season, progressing well not only in the league but also the Champions League and the Carabao Cup - plus they've already lifted a trophy in 2021/22 with the Super Cup in August.

Team News

Newcastle

During his pre-match press conference, Graeme Jones said: 'We've got Paul Dummett and Elliot Anderson still missing. Other than that we've got a fully fit squad to choose from.'

Newcastle have a mostly clear injury list, no doubt to the relief of the caretaker manager, meaning Martin Dubravka could make a return to the starting eleven for the first time since his injury back in August.

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There are still two long term-injuries in the form of Paul Dummett and Elliot Anderson but both of those two have now begun returning to training which will be good news for Magpies' fans.

Chelsea

Before the game, Thomas Tuchel spoke to the media and told them: 'Timo [Werner] and Romelu [Lukaku] are still out because of their injuries. [Mateo Kovacic] injured himself in the last minutes of training and suffers from a hamstring injury and will be out for some weeks actually.'

Remaining without both of their recognised strikers in Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner is evidently not ideal for the German boss, but his team wasn't too affected when they crushed Norwich City 7-0 last weekend.

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It's also a big blow to not have Mateo Kovacic after his excellent performances this season, but the likes of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho should provide more than satisfactory cover for him.

Predicted Lineups

Newcastle (5-3-2):

Darlow; Manquillo, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie; Hayden, Longstaff, Almiron; Wilson, Saint-Maximin

Chelsea (3-4-3):

Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Loftus-Cheek, Havertz, Mount

Form Guide

Newcastle

It's not exactly been the ideal start for Newcastle this season, at least on the football pitch, with the team languishing in the relegation zone heading into this tough fixture.

Off the field of play however, it's a different story with much success in the takeover department - though thus far that jubilant confidence hasn't translated into similar performances during games.

Chelsea

It's quite the opposite for the Blues who have had an almost perfect first nine games in the league, winning seven of them, drawing one and losing just a single one to Manchester City.

They've also scored an impressive 23 goals, but perhaps even more astonishingly Tuchel's team have only conceded three goals - only one of which was from open play, showing their incredible defensive resilience.

Ones To Watch

Allan Saint-Maximin

In what is an otherwise seemingly typical Premier League squad for a team in the bottom half of the table, Allan Saint-Maximin is anything but a typical player.

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The Frenchman regularly shows himself to be a class above the rest of the players on the pitch with his silky turns and smooth stopovers dumbfounding many opponents.

Not only that, but he's notched up two goals and three assists already this season - meaning he's been directly involved in 45% of Newcastle's league goals so far.

Mason Mount

Despite there being plenty of options to choose from in the visitor's squad as a player to watch, after last weekend's demolition of Norwich, there could only be one player to pick.

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Mason Mount was man of the match in that 7-0 win, scoring his first ever senior hat trick for Chelsea, as well as picking up an assist on the way in what was a near-on perfect performance.

He'll hope to continue that form away from home and not many would bet against him doing so, especially considering he's facing statistically the second-worst defence in the league.

Previous Five Meetings

Given the large gap in the table between these two sides currently, it's not too hard to envision the sort of pattern that has been going on during the past few meetings that they've had in recent years.

Back in January 2019, the teams met at Stamford Bridge, with Maurizio Sarri then in charge for the home team and a certain Rafa Benitez in the dugout for the visitors.

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The Blues took the lead through Pedro before Ciaran Clark cancelled it out before half time, but a Willian strike in the 57th minute ended up winning it for the Blues in the end.

Next up was another game in the capital, this time with two new managers for either side in the form of Frank Lampard and Steve Bruce who had recently arrived at their respective clubs.

Unfortunately for Bruce, the managerial change didn't alter the club's luck in West London as his side fell to a 1-0 defeat, though they made the home side work for it until the 73rd minute when Marcos Alonso got the winner.

One result which will give Newcastle fans some hope heading into this weekend's game was back in January 2020, at St James' Park, when a late, late Isaac Hayden goal won it for the home side.

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The dramatic finale to what was, in truth, a dominant Chelsea performance, sent the Geordie crowd wild and gave them a much-needed boost heading into the second half of the season.

Things returned to their normal pattern in the next game however, when, with games now behind closed doors, Newcastle were unable to call on the home crowd to get them through games.

It ended up being a fairly comfortable 2-0 win for Lampard's side, courtesy of an own goal from Federico Fernandez as well as Tammy Abraham after an excellent Timo Werner run.

Finally, in the most recent matchup between the sides earlier this year in February, it was yet another coach in the dugout for Chelsea as they cruised past their opposition 2-0.

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It took a goal from Olivier Giroud and another from Timo Werner eight minutes later to secure the win for Thomas Tuchel in one of his first games in charge at the club.

How To Watch

As this game is scheduled to kick off at 3pm UK time it's not going to be broadcast on TV in the UK due to it falling in the traditional 'blackout' period where games aren't allowed to be shown.

For viewers in the USA, the game will be shown on the USA Network but you can also follow the game right here on VAVEL with our live blog which will give regular updates throughout!

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