Chelsea should win comfortably despite faltering of late at home in the league (D1, L1). They have won with a clean sheet in three of their last four victories across all competitions, and last went three straight home league games without a win back in the spring of 2016.The ‘Blues’ will surely be set for victory should they open the scoring. This season, Chelsea’s record from league games after scoring first reads: W12, D2, L1. No less than 14 of the games in this category have produced over 1.5 goals, and within those, Chelsea have gone on to score a second without prior reply on eight occasions (57.1%). After a torrid run of just one league win in eight (W1, D3, L4) since December 1, Newcastle are once more gravitating towards the relegation zone, and the timing of this fixture is horrendous. Across all competitions, Newcastle have lost their last ten away games against teams in the current top six (GF 5, GA 26), last escaping with anything other than defeat back in May 2016.
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It is worth noting that just three of Newcastle’s last 14 games (21.4%) have been settled either way by 2+ goals. However, that doesn’t compensate for the fact that, in a sequence going back to April 2018, the Tyneside club have lost every PL match (W0, D0, L14) in which they have conceded first.
Players to watch: Álvaro Morata (CHE) remains a transfer target for several clubs, but he thrived in his last home match with a brace. Joselu, meanwhile, scored in the reverse fixture for Newcastle.
Stat attack: Chelsea have scored first in nine of their last 12 matches in all competitions (75%).The Blues have lost just one league match at home to Newcastle since the PL’s inception in 1992.Each of the last six H2H meetings have produced over 2.5 total goals.
