Chelsea team news vs Newcastle and predicted lineup | OneFootball

Chelsea travel to St James’ Park on Sunday at 12pm to face Newcastle United in a big game for the Premier League‘s top five.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Newcastle

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson.

Newcastle and Chelsea sit fourth and fifth respectively, with the Magpies currently ahead on goals scored. The pair sit two points clear of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest so know they cannot afford to drop points in a tight race.

Chelsea are in good form in the league right now, unbeaten in their past six with three consecutive wins. But St James’ Park has been a tough ground for them to go to of late.

This game will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1.

Chelsea team news vs Newcastle

Chelsea were in Conference League action in midweek, beating Djurgarden 1-0 to reach the final. And Enzo Maresca was able to rest a bunch of players, so Chelsea should return to full strength here.

Marc Cucurella is the only player likely to keep his spot from the starting XI against Djurgarden, though the Spaniard will return to his left-back role rather than in midfield. That means Moises Caicedo continuing at right-back, with Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez in midfield.

There will also be returns to the starting XI for Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson, all of whom were unused substitutes in midweek. Madueke and Neto should continue on the opposing flanks, with the Englishman causing a lot of problems since moving over to the left.

In defence, the centre-back partnership of Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah should return, ahead of Robert Sanchez in goal.

Chelsea are still without Wesley Fofana from their defence, with the Frenchman expected to be out until next season. Christopher Nkunku is also out, but could be back for the Club World Cup. Marc Guiu is back in training and may be included on the bench.

Enzo Fernandez stepping up

Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for Chelsea in their 3-1 win over Liverpool last weekend, continuing his good run of form. The Argentine has been under a lot of scrutiny since joining Chelsea, marked against his high transfer fee.

While Fernandez has generally been reliable for Chelsea, some used his lack of direct goal involvements as a stick with which to beat him. But he’s finally getting on the board there.

Fernandez has now been directly involved in 13 league goals this season, scoring six and providing seven assists. Five of those goal involvements have come since the start of March, with two goals and there assists for Fernandez.

Since the start of March, only two players have provided more assists in the Premier League than Fernandez’s three, with Morgan Rogers and Martin Odegaard both providing four. Fernandez also sits second in the Premier League during that time for chances created on 24. Only Bruno Fernandes (25) has created more in the Premier League since the start of March.

The Chelsea midfielder ranks in the top 10 for final third passes attempted and completed, as well as crosses attempted and completed since the start of March. It’s his time now.