Newcastle play away at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea on Saturday, and the Toon will need to be wary of in-form Eden Hazard.
The Belgian is having one of his best ever seasons and already has 10 goals and nine assists in just 20 matches.
The midfielder scored a penalty against the Toon in a 2-1 win for Chelsea earlier this season and he’ll be looking to have a similar impact at the weekend.
Newcastle have an awful record against Hazard, and Chelsea’s star man seems to always save his best for the Toon.
Hazard’s worrying record against Newcastle
In his entire career, Hazard has been involved in more goals against Newcastle than almost every other club he has played.
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But the concern for the Toon is he has achieved those figures in just 11 games. Southampton meanwhile have conceded just one more in 15 matches against him.
By Saturday, Eden Hazard may well have contributed more goals against Newcastle than he has for any other club in the league.
Hazard has scored seven times against Newcastle in 10 Premier League matches, with an added two assists.
It’s his home record which is particularly impressive though and concerning given Newcastle play away this weekend.
The former PFA Player of the Year has scored six goals in five games against the Magpies at Stamford Bridge.
However, Newcastle must make sure they remain confident of keeping out the Belgian superstar.
The positives
Although these stats don’t make good reading, there’s plenty to be positive about from Newcastle’s point of view.
Firstly, Hazard is not unstoppable. The Belgian actually failed to score a goal against Newcastle for two whole seasons in 2014/15 and 2015/16.
The winger is also coming into something of a dry spell for Chelsea, which is brilliant timing for the Toon.
The dry spell has also come against teams in the bottom half of the league. He’s failed to score or assist against Crystal Palace or Southampton in his last two appearances.
Newcastle must take particular inspiration from Southampton who managed to hold out at Stamford Bridge for a 0-0 draw.
Given Southampton’s similarly woeful record against the midfielder this was a fantastic result.
Chelsea were lucky to get a win at St James’ Park earlier this season and Hazard looked out of ideas.
But a soft penalty decision against Fabian Schar, allowed the diminutive winger to snatch an easy goal.
If Benitez can rouse a similar defensive performance from his team on Saturday, Hazard will not be in for an easy time of it.
