‘Something not quite right’ – Chelsea missing spark but ex-Prem boss believes it’s coming | OneFootball

Chelsea team line up ahead of Premier League match

Alan Pardew has predicted Newcastle United to beat Chelsea as there is “something not quite right” with the Blues, though players coming into form is “key” for Mauricio Pochettino.

Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, Chelsea were one of the powerhouses of English football. Indeed, since the turn of the century, they’ve won the Premier League on five occasions.

The last time was in the 2016/17 campaign, and they followed that up by finishing in the top four in four of the next five seasons. Last term, though, they were hopeless, winning just 11 games as they finished 12th in the league.

So far this season, the story has been similar. Chelsea have won four of their 12 games, and find themselves 10th in the table.

While last time out saw them feature in one of the games of the season as they drew 4-4 with Manchester City, former Newcastle boss Pardew believes something’s still missing, but things could be on the up.

“Chelsea still to me don’t look nailed down. There is still something not quite right although you are starting to see those seven or eight players, which as a manager is key,” he said on talkSPORT.

The fact the Blues aren’t at their best yet leads Pardew to believe they’ll lose to Newcastle in their next game.

“Well St James’ Park is a force in itself so he might be short of one or two players Eddie [Howe], but the atmosphere will certainly go in his favour. I do still fancy Newcastle in that fixture,” he added.

The two clubs’ fortunes have flipped in recent seasons, with the Magpies now one of the better sides in the league after usually being a bottom-half outfit previously.

They’re currently seventh, but only four points above Chelsea. As such, if the Blues were to turn them over, they’d begin to claw their way up the table, and could show they’ve got what it takes to turn around their bad run and get back to where they’re supposed to be.