Chelsea vs Newcastle United Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Preview

Chelsea crashed out of the EFL Cup at the penultimate stage on Wednesday evening, following a 2-1 second-leg defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It appeared the impetus was with the visiting side early on, as Chelsea took a deserving lead after 7 minutes when Eden Hazard opened the scoring and should have been further ahead following a dominant 20 minute spell. However, Antonio Rudiger’s own goal brought the Gunners back on level terms, before Granit Xhaka scored Arsenal’s winner on the hour mark with a poked finish inside the box. Losing Willian after 30 minutes appeared to really take the wind out of Chelsea’s sails, with the Brazilian linking up well initially with Hazard and Pedro. Ross Barkley was uninspiring off the bench, with Antonio Conte’s post-game remarks on the midfielder making it extremely questionable as to whether he actually wanted the player at Stamford Bridge. Winning just one of their last seven games in all competitions in 90 minutes, it has been an extremely frustrating spell for the Blues, who will now see this as a must-win contest, not only to return to form but also to avoid further fixture congestion. Chelsea were forced into a replay in their last FA Cup tie - going to penalties in doing so - as well as going through all the rounds of the EFL Cup, and have the small matter of a double-header against Barcelona to come.