Newcastle United predicted XI vs. Chelsea: three big changes made as £180m worth of talent miss out

Newcastle United will aim to return to winning ways when they host Chelsea in a rare Saturday 3pm kick-off at St. James' Park.

Eddie Howe’s men have endured something of a mixed period of results, with impressive wins against the likes of Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Manchester United entwined with defeats against Borussia Dortmund and Bournemouth.

The latter of those losses sent the injury-hit Magpies into the international break on a negative - but there are now high hopes they will have some key players back in contention as all eyes turn towards the run-in to what will now be routinely termed as the hectic festive period.

The importance of Saturday’s game will not be lost on Howe or his players as they face a Chelsea side starting to show signs of life under Mauricio Pochettino. The Blues will arrive on Tyneside sat in tenth place in the Premier League but they are without touching distance of their hosts and the European places.

A home win will shake off some of the negativity surrounding the defeat at Bournemouth and boost the Magpies hopes of pushing towards a second consecutive season in the Champions League. Suffering what would be only their second Premier League home defeat of the season would be something of a blow for Howe’s side.

Newcastle United Team News

Where to start? Firstly, what we do know is Lewis Hall will be unavailable to face parent club Chelsea under the terms of his loan move to Newcastle. Eddie Howe revealed Sean Longstaff will be monitored and a late decision will be made on the midfielder and failed to commit to whether striker Alexander Isak will return to contention.

Now for the absentees, settle in, this could take a while. The Magpies are without Sandro Tonali (suspension), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Dan Burn (back), Callum Wilson (thigh), Elliot Anderson (back), Sven Botman (knee), Harvey Barnes (ankle), Matt Targett (thigh) and Javier Manquillo (groin).

There is some positive news for Howe - thankfully - as Fabian Schar, Miguel Almiron and Kieran Trippier will all be fit and available to feature. Bruno Guimaraes will also return to contention after a suspension ruled him out of the defeat against Bournemouth prior to the international break.

Newcastle Predicted XI

Pope, Livramento, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Joelinton, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock, Almiron, Gordon.