Key events
36 min: I said this had all the ingredients of a proper ding-dong battle, and that’s what we’ve got so far. Chelsea nick the ball off Newcastle and the space opens for Caicedo on the edge of the box, but his shot is sliced and ends up well wide.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Isak, 34)
He’s onside! The check is over and the goal stands. A well worked move on the right of Chelsea’s box has Hall firing in a low ball across the face of the goal that takes out the keeper and two defenders. Isak is there to knock it home.
Has Fofana’s right boot kept Isak onside? It’s a long delay. I think he’s off.
We’re level! Or are we? They’re checking if Isak strayed offside before bundling in a goal.
31 min: It’s end to end! I can barely keep up. Now Newcastle have a corner and Isak gets away from his marker, but he can’t get his head around the ball enough and his effort from the near post goes wide.
29 min: Palmer delivers a wicked corner that forces Pope to punch from his own line. But Newcastle get a let-off when Fofana commits a silly foul.
27 min: Three Newcastle shots serve as a reminder that they won’t lie down. The first two – from Isak and Tonali – are blocked. Almiron gets his through the defensive wall but Sanchez saves easily. It all started with a great ball forward for Isak who then showed some neat footwork to hold up play in time for his mates to arrive in support.
26 min: Gusto, from inside the box, can’t connect with his first time shot as he runs onto a deep cross from Neto. He had the time and space, but slipped just as he attempted a side-footer.
25 min: Chelsea are camped inside Newcastle’s territory. Palmer is pulling the strings with Madueke offered loads of space to shoot, but it’s blocked. They come again. A cross just evades Jackson but Newcastle can’t escape. James and Gusto are effectively playing in the midfield they’re so advanced.
22 min: Schar is booked for clattering Palmer. Neto then crunches a first time shot from the edge of the box straight at Pope. It’s all Chelsea right now.
22 min: You’ll want to find a replay of that Chelsea goal simply to see Palmer’s pass. It could well be a contender for the ball of the season so far. He won’t get the assist but it made the goal.
20 min: Guimaraes finds Almiron with a slick through ball forward towards the edge of the box. Almiron takes a decent first touch but his second is woeful and the shot bobbles wide.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle (Jackson, 19)
No doubt this time! Brilliant from Chelsea. A wonder ball from Palmer from deep in his own half, having wriggled the room for himself, finds Neto on the gallop down the left. Suddenly it’s a two on two and Neto played in the perfect pass for Jackson in the middle of the box and his finish was stiff and accurate. Excellent counter attack from Chelsea.
18 min: Both sides are living dangerously. Snachez’s pass upfield is intercepted but Isak couldn’t sort his feet out in time to captalise. Then Jackson is given the freedom to run but a late intervention sees out the danger.
16 min: Guimaraes goes down in the box after bursting through a wall of blue shirts. He’s told to get up but he looked convinced. He’s struggling to get back up and is met with a chorus of boos. Oh, he was definitely clipped, but it was outside the box. Which means VAR can’t get involved. Newcastle would have taken the free-kick though.
15 min: Reece clips in the corner which is headed away, but only as far as Neto on the edge of the box who volleys first time. That looked good but was met with a firm block.
14 min: Hall’s in-swinger is too deep and Chelsea deal with it. But Newcastle come back with Barnes. Then Chelsea counter and win a corner of their own as Neto’s cross from the byline is deflected out.
13 min: Joelinton has been lively. A strong run down the right wins his side a corner.
10 min: Chelsea’s press is functioning so well and they pinch the ball back from Newcastle’s back four. But Joelinton returns the favour and launches a counter from inside Chelsea’s half. They can’t work a decent chance – just a pop shot from range that’s deflected safely to Sanchez – and there’s a break as Fofan requires some medical attention.
8 min: A huge let off for Newcastle who now settle with some time on the ball. But Chelsea press them and almost win it back in the final third.
Palmer’s goal is chalked off! He was off by a whisker. What a shame, that finish deserved a goal.
It’s so tight. I think he might be just a touch off.
NO GOAL! Chelsea 0-0 Newcastle
So simple! And who else but Palmer. A perfect run from the inside left channel is found by Jackson and he’s away. All he has to do is slide it into the far corner and he does so with ease. Oh, but they’re checking it…. was he offside? Yes he was! No goal!
3 min: Jackson collects a ball around halfway and takes a brilliant first touch as he spins away from his man and startsc antering upfield. A short pass to his right finds Madueke who opens his body but it’s a tame shot and Pope saves.
1 min: An early touch for Pope. A cross from Madueke on the right is snaffled by the ‘keeper.
And we’re off!
The players are out and Stamford Bridge looks a picture!
Chelsea in their royal blue, Newcastle in their black and white stripes.
This feels like a proper Premier League bout!
Chelsea fans, what do you make of Nicolas Jackson?
A goal or two today could bring a few more doubters on his side. But another tough day in what has been described as a ‘faltering start’ to the season could heap more pressure on the lad and force his manager to make a tough decision moving forward.
We’ve got out first mail of the day from Eric Peterson on the other side of the Atlantic.
Good morning from Pittsburgh! Slogging through the most annoying weekend of my Premier League season: when the UK departs daylight savings time and the USA has yet to do so. This totally upsets my established Sunday rhythm of the Premier League dovetailing with the NFL. Annoying. With this comes the inevitable anxious lap around this website’s sports links wondering why I can’t find the doggone link to the early MBM – because it won’t be put online for another hour, Eric. Sigh. Year after year. I never learn. The highest-quality pranks, Halloween or otherwise, self-inflicted or not, are the inadvertent ones.
Eric, we are one and the same. Coming from a country that doesn’t bother with daylight savings, I still can’t get my head around this ridiculous approach. I don’t care if it helps the farmers. It does my head in!
In news that will surprise absolutely no one, Roy Keane supports Enzo Maresca publicly calling out Reece James.
“What’s the problem with saying that?”
Roy Keane shares his thoughts on Enzo Maresca saying he wants to see more from Reece James 💭 pic.twitter.com/PCa5QxLHdI
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 27, 2024
Jonathan Liew speaks with Marcel Desailly.
Does that need a hard sell?
Trust me, this is a cracking piece thanks to two legends in their field.
If you thought I wasn’t going to share this goal again, you were very much mistaken.
An absolute worldie from 2012 from one of my favourite players in the league’s history.
It’s been a week of managers publicly blasting their players.
OK, maybe blasting is a bit strong. But both Eddie Howe and Enzo Maresca have singled out big players and have asked them to pull up their socks.
Maresca said he “expected more” from Reece James, adding that the Blues’ dressing room lacked a “proper leader”. Yeowch!
Meanwhile, Howe told Alexander Isak to “focus on football” as the out-of-form Swedish striker unsure on his future at the club.
With an average age of 23 years and 220 days, Chelsea’s starting XI across the season is the youngest in Premier League history.
They’re currently ahead of David O’Leary’s Leeds who finished third in 2000 with an average starting XI aged 24 years and 162 days.
Newcastle team
Two changes as well for Newcastle from their last outing.
They’re both on the wings with Jacob Murphy making way for Miguel Almiron on the left.
Big news on the right. Anthony Gordon is out with a groin injury and is replaced by Harvey Barnes.
Newcastle: Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Isak, Barnes.
Subs: Odysseas, Ruddy, Krafth, Osula, Murphy, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley.
Chelsea team
Two changes to the side that lost to Liverpool last week.
Wesley Fofana comes into the back four in place of Tosin Adarabioyo. In midfield, Pedro Neto replaces Jadon Sancho on the left.
Chelsea: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Colwill, Gusto; Lavia, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin, Veiga, Cucurella, Enzo, Mudryk, Sancho, Felix, Nkunku.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
On paper, this looks like a cracking contest. Two flawed but enterprising teams, both filled with attacking talent and the ever-present risk of implosion. If you’re a neutral this is exactly what you want for the Sunday 2pm slot under gorgeous blue skies in London.
Both Chelsea and Newcastle are also after redemption. The Blues went down 2-1 to Liverpool last time out in the league while the Mapgies suffered a shock 1-0 reverse at home to Brighton.
Chelsea, currently seventh, could move up to fourth above Arsenal (at least temporarily). Newcastle have had a pretty shambolic start to their campaign and will be desperate for at least a point that would lift them into the top half of the table. A defeat, though, could see them finish the weekend in 13th.
To be frank, anything other than a Chelsea win would come as a surprise. The Blues have not lost a home league game to Newcastle since 2012 and the visitors have struggled for goals recently. But, as the great F1 commentator Murray Walker famously quipped, anything can happen and it usually does.
Kick-off at 2pm BST. Lineups and more news to come.