Chelsea travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United this weekend in a crucial fixture for both clubs.
Newcastle host Chelsea at St James’ Park on Sunday lunchtime in a match that will have huge ramifications for the race for a top-five finish and Champions League qualification.
As it stands, both teams are inside the Champions League spots going into the final three matches of the Premier League season.
The Blues go into Sunday fresh off winning their previous five consecutive games across all competitions, including the last three league matches.
On Thursday night, Enzo Maresca’s side beat Swedish club Djurgarden to qualify for the Conference League final. It’s worth noting that the Chelsea manager made 10 changes from the side that beat Liverpool in the league last Sunday.
Back in April, Chelsea were tipped to miss out on Champions League qualification by Opta’s supercomputer. Well, their destiny is in their hands going into league fixtures against Newcastle (away), Manchester United (home) and Nottingham Forest (away).
Eddie Howe claims team consistency is the key to Chelsea’s recent success
Eddie Howe, the Newcastle manager, has praised upcoming opponents Chelsea before Sunday’s showdown.
In particular, the Toon boss pinpointed the consistency in team selection as something that’s stood out to him.
When previewing the upcoming clash against Chelsea, Howe said via Newcastle’s official website: “We expect them to revert to near their last Premier League side, which was an impressive game against Liverpool, and they performed very well and they have a lot of attacking players back in form so it should be a good game.
“We have played Chelsea twice this season so we know their qualities. I think the game at Stamford Bridge was one of our hardest games of the season.
“Their tie last night was almost done. They have a really deep squad with a lot of quality players but I think they’ve found a consistency in their Premier League selection, recently, where they haven’t changed too much and they’ve been successful with that philosophy.”
In Chelsea’s wins over Liverpool and Everton, their previous two league matches, Maresca selected the exact same starting line-up.
It feels like the return to fitness of Romeo Lavia and his introduction to the midfield has been instrumental. In particular, Jamie Carragher likes the Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer connection on the football pitch, which actually started when both were in Manchester City’s academy.
If we were predicting the Chelsea XI for the trip to Newcastle, we’d guess it’ll be the same line-up for the third league game in succession.
Eddie Howe praised Enzo Maresca in the early months of the season
Back in October 2024, Maresca was still adjusting to life in his first few months in the role as Chelsea head coach.
Eddie Howe credited Enzo Maresca earlier in the season for settling quickly at Chelsea. The Newcastle manager said in October: “I think he’s very clever with what he does. He’s got a clear view how he wants the team to play and hugely impressed at Leicester last year. Now he’s come to Chelsea, which is not an easy job. There are no easy jobs in the Premier League but he has stamped his authority on the team. They’re already playing in the manner that he wants.”
If you skip to the present day, the success of Maresca’s debut season at Chelsea rests on the next four games.
The Blues are trying to get over the line in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League before they face Real Betis at the end of May in the Conference League final.
It’s been an obstacle for Chelsea that Maresca has regularly chopped and changed with his XI, but we’re seeing the benefits in the past two weeks of a settled team.
