Newcastle vs Chelsea LIVE - Kick-off time, TV channel, team news ...
Hello and welcome to football.london's live coverage of Chelsea's trip to Newcastle United this afternoon. Premier League football is back and it does not get much tougher for the Blues than a long trip to St. James' Park.
After two of the most thrilling games you are likely to see against Tottenham and Manchester City before the break, Chelsea will be hoping to build on any sort of momentum this afternoon. Newcastle lost their two matches just prior to the two-week break and Eddie Howe will be desperate to put things right on Tyneside against Mauricio Pochettino.
However, Howe will have to do so without a mass amount of players, with Newcastle facing somewhat of an injury crisis at the moment. Chelsea, too, still have a lengthy list of absentees for this afternoon's game but their situation is improving by the day.
Christopher Nkunku could be in the squad for the first time in a competitive game since making the £52million move from RB Leipzig in the summer. The France international has been training with the rest of his teammates in the week and he is in contention to make the match day squad.
We are expecting to hear official team news at around 2pm (UK time) – an hour before the scheduled kick-off at 3pm. So stay tuned throughout the afternoon as Bobby Vincent and Scott Trotter bring you everything they see and hear from St. James' Park.
Half-time15:48
KICK-OFF15:00
17:18Sam Truelove
Newcastle4
Chelsea1
Premier League, Saturday 25th, 2023
17:14Scott Trotter
17:04Scott Trotter
16:50Scott Trotter
Newcastle on the ball.
16:46Scott Trotter
Madueke heads on for Sterling who leaves the field to boos.
16:43Scott Trotter
Gordon adds another.
16:40Scott Trotter
Colwill this time
16:38Scott Trotter
The home fans are enjoying this.
16:36Scott Trotter
Sanchez saves well from Schar.
16:34Scott Trotter
Palmer off, Colwill on.
16:32Scott Trotter
Second yellow card.
16:28Scott Trotter
Ugochukwu, Gallagher and Jackson head off, Caicedo, Broja and Mudryk on.
16:22Scott Trotter
A miskick from Thiago Silva lets his countryman in and he makes no mistake.
16:21Scott Trotter
Joelinton. What has just happened?!
16:19Scott Trotter
Newcastle lead through Lascelles.
16:19Scott Trotter
Sterling kicks the ball away and picks up one.
16:18Scott Trotter
Jackson should have done better with an opportunity afew minutes ago but it is once again the home side dominating the territory.
16:13Scott Trotter
Chelsea eventually clear and some nice play from Cucurella and Jackson eventually sees Sterling in the box but the forward goes down. Nothing given and he isn't impressed.
16:11Scott Trotter
The home side have earned a corner after threatening the Newcastle box and quickly earn another as the Blues put it out again.
16:07Scott Trotter
James takes this one but can't hit it on target.
16:06Scott Trotter
And Chelsea earn a free kick in a good position. Very similar to where Sterling scored from.
16:04Scott Trotter
Here we go again.
15:50Scott Trotter
Sanchez - 6
James - 6
Silva - 6
Badiashile - 6
Cucurella - 4
Ugochukwu - 4
Fernandez - 6
Gallagher - 5
Palmer - 6
Jackson - 5
Sterling - 7
15:48KEY EVENT
It's half-time at St. James' Park and Chelsea go in level thanks to Raheem Sterling's sublime free-kick.
15:45Bobby Vincent
Not long to go until the break.
15:43Bobby Vincent
With the resulting free-kick, Trippier smashes it against the crossbar.
15:42Bobby Vincent
The midfielder fouls Gordon at the edge of the Chelsea box and is shown a yellow card.
15:36Bobby Vincent
Gallagher has a big chance after a mistake at the back from Newcastle but the midfielder's shot is tame and it trickles wide.
15:31Bobby Vincent
Pope is called into action and the goalkeeper does really well to tip wide a shot from Fernandez after a good move from Chelsea.
