Fifth placed Chelsea welcome 16th placed Newcastle United to Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon for their Premier League matchday nine clash. Chelsea have scored six goals in their last two matches, while Newcastle conceded five in their last away match, but took a famous scalp in their last match before the international break, beating Manchester United 1-0 at home. Can they cause another upset here?

Chelsea vs Newcastle Betting Tips and Predictions: Chelsea

Chelsea are the walking wounded following the international break. Have a look at this list of names; Mateo Kovacic, Andreas Christensen, Ngolo Kante, Reece James, Emerson, Antonio Rüdiger, Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all currently on the Chelsea treatment table. Now, normally we’d run for the hills with an injury list that long, but almost all of these players have just slight knocks and of that list, we should see the usual first teamers appearing on Saturday.

Since losing to Liverpool, a game they should have drawn on the balance of play, Chelsea have won 4/4 matches in all competitions, scoring 15 goals in those four and conceding just two. Their overall home form isn’t as good though, of their four home matches this season, they’ve won just one, drawing two and losing the aforementioned Liverpool match. Things are starting to click for Frank Lampard’s side though, we saw how bad they were in the 0-4 loss on the opening day away to Manchester United, but we’ve also seen how good they can be in their 2-5 and 1-4 victories away to both Wolves and Southampton. If they can just transfer that good away form back to Stamford bridge they’ll be back to their best.

With a youthful side though mistakes will be made and things won’t always go to plan. Lampard and the Chelsea fans are all too aware of this but saying that, there’s an appreciation around Stamford Bridge for what’s being done with the team. What will happen in next summer’s transfer market remains to be seen though.

In team news, we’ve mentioned the injured players, most of them will be ready for Saturday, but have a look out for news following Lampard’s prematch press conference during the week.

Chelsea vs Newcastle Betting Tips and Predictions: Newcastle

Newcastle took a hammering at Leicester City a few weeks ago, it was akin to that scene in the Simpsons where the kid is crying ‘stop, stop, he’s already dead’. It was a tough watch and honestly, it was shameful. The Newcastle players didn’t show up, showed no pride and deserved the battering they got. Manager Steve Bruce lost the plot with the players at full time and he definitely got the response he wanted when his old team Manchester United came to St James’ Park the following week when the Magpies beat the Red Devils 1-0.

Newcastle aren’t having a good season though, yes, we’re stating the obvious there, but they’ve had two massive wins against Spurs, winning 0-1 away and beating Man United in their last match. Other than those wins they’ve only collected an additional two points from their six other matches, two home draws with Watford and Brighton. This means they are now unbeaten at home in their last three matches but on the road they’ve only beaten Spurs in that shock result and have lost to Norwich, Liverpool and Leicester.

In team news Isaac Hayden is still suspended following his red card against Leicester and Matt Ritchie is out with an ankle injury.

Chelsea vs Newcastle Betting Tips and Predictions: Stats

In their last five Premier League matches, Chelsea have won three, drawn one and lost one. Over 2.5 goals has occurred in 4/5, while BTTS has landed in 4/5 as well.

In their five most previous PL matches, Newcastle have won one, drawn two and lost two. Over 2.5 goals has occurred in 2/5, while BTTS has also occurred in 2/5.

In previous head to head matches at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have won 5/5, Over 2.5 goals occurring in 4/5, while BTTS landed in 3/5.

Chelsea vs Newcastle Betting Tips and Predictions: Prediction and Tips

The Asian Handicap line opened at 1.5 and there’s been some movement. Chelsea -1.5 opened at 2.0 and has fallen to 1.93, while for Newcastle it opened at 1.90 drifting to 2.0. The goal line opened at 2.75 and has moved to 3 such was the action coming in on the Overs side.

These clashes tend to be high scoring affairs and we’re going with that goal line, so our bet is Over 3 goals at 2.02.