Newcastle arrested their slide somewhat with a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, with their performance doing more than the result to give encouragement to Rafael Benitez and the Toon Army after an awful display against Watford.
They’ll have to go some way to get a result at Chelsea though, with the home side looking to make up for a relatively poor start to their home season by all accounts.
Rafa reverted, as predicted here, to a single striker with Ayoze Perez in behind at West Brom and it worked much better for his side, though once again Joselu was totally ineffective in front of goal despite many other good touches and fine link-up play.
Jamaal Lascelles is still missing through injury, as are Christian Atsu and Paul Dummett. So we should see a very similar line-up to the one that fought back from 2-0 down at the Hawthorns:
Earned a recall to the side in place of Rob Elliot in midweek and may well be given another go.
The speedy attacking full-back did alright at West Brom and is the best option on the books for this role.
A solid enough display alongside captain Clark the other night, the Frenchman is likely to continue to deputise for Lascelles.
Captained the side and scored on Tuesday, so should come into this one full of confidence.
With Dummett still missing, Manquillo and Gamez have been the options but Mbemba did well enough at West Brom and should go again.
Once again, his quality was the main positive for Newcastle on Tuesday, with him setting up both goals from his position on the right.
Came off the bench at West Brom and made a big difference, may well edge out Isaac Hayden unless Rafa feels he needs to play a very defensive line-up.
It would be an attacking move to leave Hayden out and play Merino and Shelvey together, however, they are the quality in Newcastle’s midfield.
Of course, his final ball needs some work but he is looking very lively at the moment and this could be his stage.
A little lightweight in front of goal, but links up well and should support Joselu or Aleksandar Mitrovic up front.
Joselu did well without scoring the other night and seems to be a favourite of Rafa’s. However, he did bring Mitro off the bench to a raucous welcome from the away fans and he may be about to get a go from the start.
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