Newcastle United vs Chelsea 2013: Team news, TV info, & Predictions

October was a splendid month indeed with Chelsea winning all their matches including those against Arsenal and Manchester City. The key towards winning the title is maintaining consistency and not only getting points in the big matches. Chelsea are well placed at the moment to be top of the table by Christmas. We have a relatively easy fixture list (only one of our next five opponents is in the top 10) on our hands and the players should be able to win the next five matches if they are not complacent.

A visit to Newcastle United is always tough irrespective of their league position. Chelsea should take three points if the players are focused. Newcastle have just one victory (against newly promoted Cardiff) in the last five matches. They have also conceded more than two goals in each of these matches.

On loan star Loic Remy is their major threat along with Hatem Ben Arfa. After a great performance against Arsenal in the midweek, it would be nice to see Mata start this match. Fernando Torres is likely to start given his good form.

Manager’s thoughts:

Predicted line-ups:

Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Krul, Santon, Yanga-Mbiwa, Williamson, Debuchy, Cabaye, Tioté, Remy, Sissoko, Arfa, Cissé

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Torres

Team news:

Once again, Chelsea have no injury worries apart from Marco van Ginkel.

Apart from Fabricio Coloccini and Ryan Taylor, Newcastle are almost at full strength. However, majority of their first-team players were involved in the League Cup match against Manchester City, which went into extra time.

TV broadcast details:

BT Sport 1 & BBC Radio 5 Live (UK), NBC Sports Live Extra (US), ESPN HD (India), SuperSport 3 Africa (Most of Africa), ESPN Play Latin America (Brazil)

Prediction:

Newcastle United 0-3 Chelsea

It should be a tough match, but the superior form of our players will see us through.

KTBFFH