NEWCASTLE welcome Chelsea on Saturday evening. Anthony Olsson (@Ant_olsson93) analyses the encounter.
Newcastle v Chelsea | Saturday 18th January 2020, 17:30 | Sky Sports
Chelsea travel to the north-east to take on Newcastle on Saturday evening looking to grab another win to continue their pursuit of Champions League football. The Blues go into Saturday night’s game having produced an impressive display in their 3-0 win over Burnley and they’ll be confident of picking up another three points against an injury-hit Toon.
Newcastle have been ravaged by injuries but they did manage to pick up a good point away against Wolves and they’ll be hoping that their good home record will help them put in another good performance. The Magpies will be encouraged by Chelsea’s patchy away form of late but they’ll need to be better than the last time these two met. Back in October Newcastle failed to register a shot on-target as they lost 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have had the upper hand historically in meetings between these two having won six of their last seven meetings against Newcastle. The Blues haven’t been known for keeping things tight in games this season having conceded 19 goals in 25 away matches and despite being up against the third-lowest scorers think they could concede once more. The style of football that Chelsea play often leaves them open without the ball and I think the home side could take advantage.
Chelsea might not defend brilliantly in any game but they are superb in attack. In 11 away games they have managed to score 25 goals which ranks them third in the top scorers list. The Blues are fluent in attack and in Tammy Abraham they have a natural finisher.
I like the look of Both Teams To Score and Chelsea to win at 12/5 (BoyleSports). The Blues’ ability to score goals has got them to where they are this term and when you see that 14th-place Brighton have conceded just one more goal than them you can see how important this attack has been for Lampard’s outfit.
I mentioned that Abraham has been important to Chelsea and I think he will have another big game on Saturday. Abraham has 13 goals this season and with Harry Kane now injured and in doubt for the Euros this Summer. Abraham has a big chance to show that he will be next in line to replace Kane.
Paddy Power are 11/10 for Chelsea to win and Abraham to score at any time in the match and with Abraham the main focal point of Chelsea’s attack I think this is a good angle.
Another angle I like in this match is for Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie to be shown a card. Ritchie has just come back from injury and is likely to be in line for a start with the injury crisis that the Magpies have at the moment.
Ritchie was converted from a winger to a left back and he’ll be up against Callum Hudson-Odoi who is a problem for natural left backs. Ritchie to be shown a card in the match is 10/3 (Bet365) which is a nice price. He has been booked nine times last season in the Premier league and has two cards in six games in all competitions this term.
Best Bets
Newcastle v Chelsea – Chelsea to win and Tammy Abraham to score (11/10 Paddy Power)
Newcastle v Chelsea – Chelsea to win and Both Teams To Score (12/5 Boylesports)
Newcastle v Chelsea – Matt Ritchie to be carded (10/3 Bet365)
