There’s no doubt that Newcastle, Chelsea’s opposition tomorrow, are not in good form. But that’s no reason to take them lightly. We’ve seen plenty of good stuff from them in recent years, especially when they face us, and no fan is comfortable about the match.
Enzo Maresca agrees, warning everyone about the opposition’s strengths and trying to keep him team focused after two games without a win in the league.
“Newcastle are very clear: they are physically strong, they are very good. They have been unlucky, especially in the last game against Brighton, but overall they have deserved more points and the way they work over the years together is quite clear,” Maresca explained in quotes on the official Chelsea site.
“I really like Newcastle and probably this is the moment when teams can do something good when they are in a difficult moment.”
Maresca wise to be wary of powerful Newcastle team
He’s right to be wary of them. This is just the sort of game that can trip you up. We need to be focused – and we will hopefully be pretty fresh after leaving a solid chunk of the first team back in England. With the home fans cheering them on, a fast start and an early goal should open up the game in a way that suits us.
However if we let Newcastle get ahead, it could be another tension filled afternoon ahead as we try to break them down.
After weeks of consistent selections from the new coach, there are suddenly really interesting questions to be answered on the teamsheets tomorrow, and we suspect a lot of calls will be made based on exactly what Maresca is discussing above – physicality.
We need to compete and earn the right to play – then we can worry about some more attacking changes.
