Rafa Benitez
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Big Match Breakdown: Newcastle United v Chelsea

| 26.08.2018
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Preview, odds and tips for Prem tussle

Sunday closes with Chelsea travelling north to St. James Park to meet Newcastle United.

Maurizio Sarri will be eager his side continues their fine start to the season, scoring six points out of six so far.

Newcastle were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in the opening game before a 0-0 draw with Cardiff City.

All the action will be live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 4pm.

Check out our Big Match Breakdown for an in-depth look at the Premier League clash.

Head-to-Head

As Chelsea’s divorce with Antonio Conte looked increasingly likely, the final nail in the coffin could have been their 3-0 defeat to the Magpies on the final day of last season.

A brace from Ayoze Perez plus a Dwight Gayle strike down the Blues.

However, before then Chelsea had won four of the last five fixtures, dating back to 2014 with the other being a 2-2 draw.

Likely XIs

Chelsea should expect to be unchanged for the most part from their 3-2 win over Arsenal.

However, Mateo Kovacic may come in for Ross Barkley after helping turn the tide against the Gunners.

Eden Hazard started on the bench but could now replace for Pedro or Willian.

The hosts could start with new signing Salomon Rondon instead of Joselu.

The back-four should remain un-touched with DeAndre Yedlin’s injury not as bad as initially feared.

Whilst Kenedy is ineligible to face his parent-club.

Key Battles

Rafa Benitez will be keen to get one over on the club he managed during the 2012-13 season. He was also Sarri’s predecessor at Napoli, where Chelsea snared the Italian from.

Back on the field and Jamaal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark will have to keep the door shut on Hazard and Alvaro Morata.

Morata netted his first league goal since the 3-1 defeat to Tottenham in April, and is now targeting 30 goals this season.

The absence of Kenedy could mean Josh Murphy or Christian Atsu will come in on the left wing.

A midfield of Kovacic, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante could be a tough test for the Jonjo Shelvey-Mo Diame axis for Newcastle.

Match Odds

Chelsea are 4/6 to return to Stamford Bridge with the victory. Newcastle available at 4/1 to pick up their first three points of the season.

The draw – which would be the first in five games – is available at 11/4.

Morata to score for the second game in a row for Chelsea is 11/8. His team-mate Olivier Giroud is also at 11/8 to notch Anytime.

Newcastle’s Joselu is 9/1 to score his second goal of the season.

Click here for more Newcastle United v Chelsea odds

Big match previews, betting tips and transfer news – Coral has it all.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing

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Author

Charlie Dear