Premier League: Newcastle and Chelsea Both Want Some Festive Cheer

Newcastle United vs Chelsea

On the last weekend of football before Christmas, fans of Newcastle United and Chelsea are both asking for a festive gift, but when their teams meet at St James Park on Saturday lunchtime only one set of fans will be having a party…and maybe neither will get the three points they crave.          

Last week Chelsea ended a four match winless run with a 2-0 victory over Everton while Newcastle had a bad day at the office, losing the Tyne Tees derby to neighbours Sunderland. That painful loss left the Magpies 12^th in the Premier League table while the Blues’ victory took them up to fourth.    

Both clubs are in EFL Cup action this week; the Magpies host Fulham in their quarter final on Wednesday night, while Chelsea visited Cardiff on Tuesday night and came away with a hard earned 3-1 win. Enzo Maresca rested a number of his biggest stars but, after a goalless first half, he brought on Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto and they did the business. 

Meanwhile, Eddie Howe will shuffle his pack for the visit of Fulham and he has one particular problem to solve.     

 

Talking Points

Burn adds to Newcastle’s defensive woes

The Magpies have struggled to balance European and domestic priorities, in cup and league. While ticking along nicely in the EFL Cup and Champions League, Newcastle have struggled to get out of the bottom half of the Premier League table and, while Howe certainly has a good choice of creative players to choose from, he has mounting problems at the back. Newcastle have gone eight games without keeping a clean sheet, and Howe now has four defenders missing, after Dan Burn was injured during the loss to Sunderland. The 33 year old has been a colossus in defence at St James Park since his transfer from Brighton in 2022, but now he’ll be out for up to six weeks after fracturing a rib and damaging his lung after a nasty collision with Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele. And the 6ft 7in star joins Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier and Emil Krath on the treatment table at a very busy time for the Magpies. 

At the other end of the pitch Nick Woltemade will be desperate to get on the score-sheet after he made the wrong kind of Premier League 2025 news headlines last week when he headed into his own goal to give the Black Cats a 1-0 win. He has impressed so far in his first Premier League campaign but the German will want to wipe away the memory of last week. And so will skipper Bruno Guimaraes who, along with Anthony Gordon, is a player who can cut open a defence or provide that killer ball for Woltemade to convert.                   

 

‘Cold Palmer’ is back for the Blues 

Cometh the hour, cometh the man;’ and after a run of four games without a win Maresca turned to Cole Palmer and he delivered, scoring the opener to inspire the Blues to a victory over improving Everton. Palmer was left out of the defeat to Atalanta the previous week as he continues to nurse a groin strain, and the manager will treat him carefully. While some stars came off the bench against Cardiff, Garnacho scoring a brace and Neto bagging the third against the Bluebirds, Palmer watched from the comfort of the stands. 

The 23 year old has been Chelsea’s best player since arriving in 2023, scoring 39 goals from 76 games and, if Palmer hits a sustained run of form, the Premier League 2025 betting odds will take note. A league title is a tall order, with an eight point gap to make up and Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa standing in their way, but the Blues are a good bet to pick up some silverware to add to the two trophies Maresca collected in his first campaign in the Chelsea dugout.   

 

History 

Chelsea have had the better of their head to head meetings with Newcastle, winning 34 to 18, and there have been 13 draws in all competitions over the past 65 games.

At St James’ Park Newcastle are ahead by 16 to 11, with five draws, and when the two teams met in the North East last May the Magpies ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Sandro Tonali and Guimaraes, after the Blues had gone down to ten men. 

Newcastle have won two, lost two and drawn two of their last six games in all competitions while Chelsea’s win over Cardiff also made it two, two, two.  

 

Betting Tip

The SBOTOP odds say this is a really tough match to call, with the Magpies at 2.63 Chelsea at 2.50 and the draw priced at 3.40. I was tempted to go for over 3.50 but I’ll be a little more cautious, though I’m sure we will see goals.    

   

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