Chris Sutton has made his weekly pre-match prediction before Chelsea host Newcastle United in the Premier League.
Chelsea welcome Newcastle to Stamford Bridge on Monday night for a league fixture.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues side do sit in the bottom half of the division right now, with inconsistency the biggest killer of the season so far. That’s highlighted by the fact it’s two wins, two draws and two defeats from their six league games in 2024 so far.
Similarly, eight-placed Newcastle have been up and down with results, so they’re only four points above Chelsea in 11th.
BBC pundit Chris Sutton has tipped a narrow home win for Chelsea over Newcastle in a few days time.
It’s worth remembering that the Magpies won the reverse fixture back in November 4-1 at St James’ Park, though.
“How can anyone accurately predict Chelsea versus Newcastle, given the inconsistency we have seen from both teams recently?” Sutton told BBC Sport.
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“Which Chelsea team will turn up, and which Newcastle side will we see? The Magpies bounced back from a bad defeat at Arsenal by beating Wolves, but they have not won back-to-back league games since the start of December.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve backed Chelsea at home, and been wrong, but surely they are going to win again at Stamford Bridge before the end of the season?
“I went with the law of averages when I picked a Newcastle home victory last week, so hopefully the same method will work again with Chelsea this time.
“Sutton’s prediction: 2-1.”
Elsewhere, speaking via X this morning, Paul Merson also predicted a Chelsea victory over Newcastle.
Chelsea vs Newcastle
We agree that it’s become increasingly harder to predict Chelsea results.
Yes, there’s still time for the Blues to climb the table and salvage the campaign by ending up in the European positions. However, it’ll take a consistency that’s been non-existent under Pochettino.
A home win over Newcastle would be a big step in the right direction.
