Newcastle vs Chelsea – as it happened: Blues make it three out of three
All the latest from St James' Park
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea come into their game in the North East as one of few unbeaten teams in the Premier League from the first two games.
New head coach Maurizio Sarri has lifted the mood at the club and has achieved instant results, scoring three goals each in their victories over Huddersfield and Arsenal. Alvaro Morata opened his account for the season in last weekend’s London derby, but the former Napoli manager will hope they are tighter at the back when they travel to St James’ after they initially threw away a two-goal advantage.
Rafa Benítez’s Newcastle side picked up their first point of the season last weekend against Cardiff, but the Spaniard will be disappointed not to be heading into the fixture against his former club on the back of a win after Kenedy missed an injury-time penalty. The Magpies have been assigned a tough start to the season at home, having already welcomed Spurs, who left victorious on the opening weekend, to St James’ Park this season.
We will have all the latest from St James' Park:
Preview
When time does it start?
Newcastle United vs Chelsea kicks off at 4PM (BST).
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports’ Premier League and Main Event channels from 3:30PM Sky Sports subscribers can also stream the game online via the SkyGo app.
It’s a big game for…
DeAndre Yedlin: The 25-year-old was not risked by Benitez against Cardiff after suffering a knee injury against his former club Spurs. The Magpies are in somewhat of a right-back crisis currently after Javier Manquillo was forced off through injury against Cardiff and his replacement Isaac Hayden saw red later on. The USA international will face one of his sternest test this season when he comes up against Eden Hazard and Pedro, who were both impressive against Arsenal.
Stat…
4: Newcastle have won four of their last five league matches against Chelsea in St James’ Park. The run includes a 3-0 victory for the Magpies on the final day of last season.
Remember when…
Newcastle may have an excellent recent home record against Sunday’s opponents, but they have not beaten the FA Cup holders at Stamford Bridge since a double from Papiss Cisse secured a 2-0 victory for them in May 2012. Their miserable record in West London, which has seen them lose every game there since, includes a 5-1 hammering in February 2016 after the hosts scored three goals in the opening 17 minutes. However, the best goal of the game was undoubtedly Andros Townsend’s consolation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzzls8917s4
Player to watch…
Mateo Kovacic: Eden Hazard was credited as the player who turned the game back in Chelsea’s favour in last weekend’s 3-2 victory over Arsenal, but his Croatian teammate also had a huge role to play on his debut. The Real Madrid loanee made some crucial tackles and helped the hosts wrestle back control of the midfield before Alonso’s winner. A hostile environment will mean the former Inter Milan midfielder will have to be at his best to help out N’Golo Kante and Jorginho.
Past three-meetings…
Newcastle United 3 (Gayle, Pérez x2) Chelsea 0, Premier League, May 2018
Chelsea 3 (Batshuayi x2, Alonso) Newcastle United 0, FA Cup, January 2018
Chelsea 3 (Hazard x2, Morata) Newcastle United 1 (Gayle), Premier League, December 2017
Form guide…
Newcastle United: LD
Chelsea: WW
Odds…
Newcastle to win: 21/5
Chelsea to win: 4/6
Draw: 14/5
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
Prediction...
Newcastle 1-2 Chelsea
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Sunday's Premier League action.
First up it's Watford vs Crystal Palace before Fulham vs Burnley and Newcastle vs Chelsea.
We will have all the latest build-up and action from all three so don't touch that dial.
First up today Watford host Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road, with the Hornets looking to extend their winning start to the season after overcoming Brighton and Burnley in the first two weeks.
As for Palace they'll be looking to put Monday nights defeat to Liverpool behind them and focus on a game where three points are definitely up for grabs.
Kick off at 1.30pm
Crystal Palace are looking to get back to winning ways, how important will this man be?
A win today would see Watford equal their best ever start to a Premier League season with three wins from three,
Head coach Javi Gracia spoke to the media about it: "It is always important to start well, but we have played only two games and they are only two important wins.
"We need to keep calm and know bad results will arrive in the future. We are going to play against a Palace side with two good strikers who play on the counter attack.
"You have to adapt to different things like we did in the other games we played."
Christian Benteke scored 3 times in 31 fixtures last season, can he start his goal tally for this year today?
The teams walk out onto the pitch into the wind and the rain, kick off is 5 minutes away!
KICK OFF: Watford 0 - 0 Crystal Palace
Watford start the action hitting the ball long before winning it back in their own half, the ball finds it's way out to Pereyra on the left and he crosses the ball into the box but it's slightly off target going behind the oncoming strikers and out for a goal kick
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