Kick off Time 12:45pm
Team News
Newcastle United
- Having played 120 minutes of action on Wednesday Pardew will be keen to avoid burnout in his players, with the likes of Gouffran, Cisse and Anita all likely to drop to the bench.
- Santon will return to the side with both Haidara and Dummett forced off in midweek, while Shola Ameobi may get a rare chance to lead the line.
- Cabaye and Ben Arfa should be relatively fresh having been used as second half substitutes in the cup but the likes of Sissoko and Tiote may not last the 90.
Chelsea
- Having made ten changes to his line-up in the midweek cup victory against Arsenal, Mourinho may well revert to the side that won a crucial match-up with City last weekend.
- Gary Cahill was the only player that kept his place on Tuesday so if any player is likely to be rested it may be the Englishman.
- Fernando Torres will return up front but, despite scoring at the Emirates he's unlikely to be joined in the line-up by compatriot Juan Mata.
Match Facts
Prediction
- Victory at home last season in this fixture saw Newcastle put an end to their struggles in front of goal against Chelsea at St. James' Park, having failed to score in 5 of their previous 6 home encounters against the Blues.
- Chelsea have now won their last 6 matches in all competitions and are unbeaten in 9 despite facing three tough fixtures in the past fortnight. Mourinho will hope to take advantage of any slip up from Arsenal as they face a tough match against Liverpool.
- Though Pardew's side will be keen to put their derby defeat behind them they face the in-form team in England right now and it's hard to see them recreating the heroics from the 3-2 win over Chelsea in February.
Newcastle United
Chelsea
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