Chelsea-Newcastle is a friendly and is played on Wednesday night and Thursday night at 02:15: news, TV, streaming, likely line-ups, predictions
The 2023-24 Premier League won’t start until next 13 August but tonight sees a tasty appetiser of the world’s finest (and richest) league with the match between Chelsea and Newcastle, both of whom are on tour in the US.
On the turf of the futuristic Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta we will see Sandro Tonali’s Magpies at work again, just three days after the friendly against Aston Villa, also played overseas. Eddie Howe’s team, who will return to play in the Champions League next season after almost twenty years since their last appearance in the cup with the big ears, curiously disappointed defensively in their first three outings: their great solidity in the non-possession phase had been one of their main strengths in the last championship, which saw them finish fourth in the standings behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Yes, all right, it’s only summer football, but at the moment Newcastle are averaging two goals conceded per game. It conceded three against Gateshead and Rangers and as many in the head to head with the Villans.
A permeability that is not surprising, considering that the coach is taking advantage of these matches to make tactical experiments.
Wilson
Good, in any case, the impact of the former AC Milan midfielder, bought for 70 million euros. Tonali and his team-mates will have to watch out for an inspired attack from Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, who scored a total of nine goals in their first two outings between Wrexham (5-0) and Brighton (4-3). The Argentine coach, called upon to improve the fortunes of a club that ended the last Premier League even in the right-hand side of the table, is already showing that he has clear ideas. He will field another experimental eleven, but the starting XI of former Inter Primavera player Casadei is almost certain.
The prediction
Chelsea in these friendlies are consistently finding the way of the goal, Newcastle as well, while dancing a bit too much in defence. In short, there are all the ingredients for an entertaining match, in which the total number of goals should be at least four.
The Chelsea-Newcastle line-up probables
- CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Hall, Thiago Silva, Chalobah, Cucurella; Enzo Fernandez, Casadei; Moreira, Chukwuemeka, Sterling; Jackson.
- NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Karius; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Isak, Wilson.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
