Opposition Overview: Newcastle Plot Chelsea Defeat

Newcastle United Prepare To Tear Chelsea To Shreds At St.James Park

• Back-to-back losses put Eddie Howe under pressure to beat Chelsea

• Tactical analysis of how Newcastle will play

• How Chelsea can win by replicating recent tactics

  By Udo Anyanwu | November 24, 2023

Newcastle United Attacker Callum Wilson

"We all know that St. James Park with that crowd behind you has been a brilliant fortress..." - Eddie Howe

Newcastle United prepares for Saturday's Premier League showdown with Chelsea on the back of two miserable defeats. The most recent was an away loss to Bournemouth in the premier league while a defeat against Dortmund puts their Champions League group qualification hopes in the balance.

Newcastle have been plagued by injuries this season. If you think Chelsea has injury problems then you've not been following Newcastle. Chelsea has had 8 players ruled out but Newcastle has a whopping 13 players out (yes, you heard that right).

Newcastle's Tactical Approach

Eddie Howe is under serious pressure. The honeymoon phase after last year's outrageous success in qualifying for the Champions League. is over. With two back-to-back defeats, Eddie Howe cannot afford any more slips. He will look to beat Chelsea tomorrow (and PSG next week) to restore confidence in his leadership.

Tactics for playing against Chelsea are clear. Big teams will ignore it because they want to attack and win games. Take Man City for instance. Pep Guardiola must have known that Chelsea struggled against low-block teams. He opted instead to follow his script, trusting in his team's ability to win. Eddie Howe could make the same mistake.

The Danger For Chelsea

Newcastle's injury-ravaged team still has one piece intact: Kieran Trippier. Most of the team's attacks will be initiated from his full-back position as he looks to push the team forward from the right. The attacking players in front of him will look to do the damage. It could be Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak, or Miguel Almiron.

Newcastle has been among the Premier League's best-attacking sides in almost all metrics from chances created to shots-on-target. This is a team capable of hurti9ng anybody. Defensively they've shown vulnerability. We saw this against Bournemouth. Dan Burn remains out but Tino Livramento is likely to replace Lewis Hall who is ineligible to play.

https://x.com/PrideOfLdnCfc

The Chelsea Master Plan

There are two things you never change. You don't change a winning formula and you never change a winning team. Chelsea's path to an unlikely success at St James Park lies in replicating its performance against Man City. In that game, Chelsea were brilliant in the transition, tearing through Man City's defense with surprising ease.

Kieran Trippier will leave a lot of spaces behind as he progresses forward. This creates excellent opportunities for Raheem Sterling on the counter. Cole Palmer and Nicholas Jackson must be clinical in front of goal. Conor Gallagher's ability to create turnovers and disrupt play will be vital. St. James Park has been a fortress but even the most fortified fortresses can be breached. Chelsea looks in prime shape to do that on Saturday.