Eliminated from the League Cup of England, Chelsea tries the reaction this Sunday, January 28. For the fourth round of the FA Cup will receive, at Stamford Bridge, London, Newcastle. The game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
In this phase of the FA Cup, the definitions can happen in one or two matches. If there is a winner, the dispute is over. If the game is in the tie, it forces the re-confrontation with inverted field control. In this second match, there will be a mandatory definition, even if it is necessary to carry out a penalty extension and decision.
Chelsea’s recent performance
On Wednesday, January 24, the Blues had a series of 12 games without defeat (six wins and six losses) against Arsenal. He lost the London derby at home to 2-1. It was the return leg of the League Cup semi-finals and caused Chelsea to be eliminated from the tournament.
The club already had a crisis before the match, even without having suffered losses. The large number of draws caused a setback in the English Championship and the top scorers, who set out in search of reinforcements requested by coach Antonio Conte, have not yet been able to acquire the athletes the coach wanted. The transfer window will come to an end on February 2.
This has added to the importance of Sunday’s match and should prevent Conte from scaling reserves, as he did in his debut in the tournament and failed against Newport (0-0). He needed the ‘replay’, where he also tied (1 to 1) at regular time to survive the fight. He got the better of the penalty shootout after a goalless draw in overtime.
However, it is unlikely that the coach will be able to count on all his starters. They are in the process of injury treatment and are doubtful for the match the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (23 games in the English Championship 2017/2018); the socks Cesc Fabregas (20 games, one goal) and William (24 games, four goals); and striker Alvaro Morata (20 games, ten goals).
The attack command has been the target of Conte’s biggest complaints. For the position, in addition to Morata, he only has the Belgian Michy Batshuayi (12 games, two goals). The player is not to his liking and is involved in speculation about a possible transfer still in January.
The current form of Newcastle
If the Chelsea manager complains about his squad, which placed him in third place in the English Premier League, Spanish coach Rafa Benitez from Newcastle has far more reason to complain. So much that he had to settle for this transfer window with a player who was dismissed by the rival. The Brazilian, who played only one game of the English Premier League for the blues, will strengthen the alvinegro until the end of the season.
Although the deal is closed and the 21-year-old former Fluminense athlete is already included in the official list of Newcastle players, he will not be able to play in the FA Cup for the club as he has participated in matches for Chelsea.
Thus Benitez will have to deal with the cast that has been enough to keep the team out of the relegation zone of the English Championship. Newcastle, with 23 points (six wins, five draws and 13 losses), is in 15th place. It has only one point more than the Southampton, which occupies the eighteenth position, first in the sticking region.
To make matters worse, defenders Jesus Gamez (two matches in English Championship 2017/2018, no goal), Florian Lejeune (12 games, no goal) and Chancel Mbemba (nine games, no goal) are in injury treatment; and striker Aleksandar Mitrovic (six games, one goal).
History of the bouts between Chelsea and Newcastle
Chelsea have won three matches and drawn once in their last four meetings with Newcastle. In the first round of the 2017/2018 Premier League season, he scored 3-1.
Acting at home and more pressured to win, Chelsea are the best guessing option for the showdown. Has a price of 1.44 in Bet365. Draw shows return of 4.33 and Newcastle’s success pays 7.50. Quotes were in effect at 16:24 on 1/25/2018.