Former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has claimed that Newcastle will overcome Chelsea this weekend despite their injury problems.
Newcastle return to Premier League action against the Blues on Saturday and will be looking to bounce back after a poor defeat to Bournemouth in the last game before the international break.
Pardew has been speaking on talkSPORT about the current state of both clubs and has suggested that Newcastle should have just enough at home to emerge victorious against a Chelsea team who are still figuring things out.
Pardew says Newcastle should win
Newcastle have a strong record when facing Chelsea at home and will be looking to add to their tally of victories at St James’ Park this weekend.
There are a number of injury problems in the squad, but that didn’t seem to affect the team too much when facing an unbeaten Arsenal side who left the North East with zero points.
Though their away form has been poor, there are few teams who look forward to a trip to St James’ Park and it’s unlikely that anyone in the Chelsea squad will be expecting an easy game on Saturday.
Pardew has faith in this Newcastle squad regardless of the absentees and has backed them to beat this Chelsea side who he believes are still struggling to become a cohesive squad.
On talkSPORT, Pardew said: “Well St James’ Park is a force in itself so he might be short of one or two players Eddie, but the atmosphere will certainly go in his favour. I do still fancy Newcastle in that fixture.
“Chelsea still to me don’t look nailed down. There is still something not quite right although you are starting to see those seven or eight players, which as a manager is key.”
Chelsea on the rise
In contrast to Newcastle, Chelsea have been enjoying some positive injury news in the last few weeks with the return of captain Reece James who has started their last three domestic games.
Chelsea have scored 10 goals in that period and picked up victories against Blackburn, Tottenham and a draw against Manchester City in an eight-goal thriller.
Though Pardew is not yet convinced with Chelsea’s recent form, their performances have definitely improved from what they were producing at the start of the season and will be more confident in visiting Newcastle than they would have a month ago.
The performances of Cole Palmer in particular, who earned his first call-up to the England team, have also been a huge positive for Chelsea and Newcastle will have to keep a close eye on the midfielder if they are hoping to keep a fifth successive home clean sheet in the league.
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