Eddie Howe names “huge” factor that will change today’s Newcastle game | OneFootball

Chelsea take on Newcastle in just an hour’s time at St James’ Park, and on the pitch the build up has begun.

TNT Sports spoke to Eddie Howe before kick off, and asked him for his thoughts on the results from yesterday and how they affect the race for the top 5. Man City drew with Southampton, while Aston Villa got a vital win.

Howe on Champions League race

Anthony Gordon celebrates scoring for Newcastle. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“It is so tight, yesterday’s results were always going to be what they were, you detach yourself from it and you do what you can do. We know the importance of today’s game, it’s a huge game for both clubs, we just have to put on a really good performance,” Newcastle coach Howe said to the TV cameras.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game, Chelsea are a a really good team, they’re in form – but so are we. We need the crowd with us today, that’s going to be huge.”

The crowd is a factor we’ve mentioned time and again. Playing at St James’ Park isn’t easy at the best of times – it looks to be particularly tricky with so much riding on the game.

You can see him speaking in the video embedded here:

Howe coy on Newcastle’s setup

Howe was also asked about his team lineup today – it’s the first time he’s used Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes as a four all season. He wasn’t giving much away however, when pressed for more details on how they would set up.

“They’re all very good players and we’ve to go try to find the right balance,” the Magpies coach said, without revealing whether it would be Gordon playing as a number ten or Jacob Murphy playing as a wing back.