Chelsea vs Newcastle Prediction: Blues can bounce back at home

Chelsea and Newcastle have an important Premier League match to play in the middle of their Champions League last-16 ties on Saturday evening as the Magpies travel to Stamford Bridge (17:30 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event).

The Blues have dropped out of the top four places but they won their last league assignment 4-1 at Aston Villa, while Newcastle are 12th as they play on the road for the first time in six games. Below are my Chelsea vs Newcastle predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Levi Colwill is out for Chelsea, while Estevao and Jamie Gittens may not be risked. Manager Liam Rosenior could decide to give Robert Sanchez another chance in goal after Filip Jorgensen's poor performance against PSG.

The Magpies are still without captain Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar, Lewis Miley and Emil Krafth, while Anthony Gordon could be held out with the midweek match against Barcelona in mind.

Football Odds

Chelsea vs Newcastle Odds

Chelsea are the odds-on favourites at home at 4/5, with Newcastle the 3/1 outsiders and the draw priced at 16/5.

Over 2.5 goals is priced at 4/9, with under 2.5 at 13/8, and it's 1/2 that both teams score in the match and 6/4 that one or both teams fail to get on the scoresheet.

Chelsea to win and both teams to score @ 9/5

If the final 20 minutes had gone differently for Chelsea against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, manager Rosenior might have some more difficult selection decisions to make for this match.

However, after PSG scored three late goals in Paris to win 5-2, prioritising this Premier League fixture for his biggest stars makes more sense and a win against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge would at least set them up for an attempt to rescue that tie at the same venue on Tuesday.

Newcastle's spirits could be low after a late penalty denied them a famous victory over Barcelona at St James' Park, but with that tie finely poised, Eddie Howe may pick his team with the second leg of that clash in mind.

Chelsea have been blowing hot and cold lately but their 4-1 rout of Aston Villa in their last league outing was a high point and they can be fancied to pick up the points, but given their recent defensive record, it's likely to be a high-scoring game.

Both teams have scored in Chelsea's last five games, while Newcastle have both scored and conceded in 13 consecutive matches, so take the Blues to prevail while needing to score at least twice to do so.

Joao Pedro anytime goalscorer @ 11/10

Joao Pedro is fourth in the Premier League top goalscorer list with 14 goals this season and that tally could rise in Saturday's game.

Pedro has been on fire since the turn of the year, scoring 11 goals in his last 13 games for the Blues, and he had an effort disallowed for offside against PSG that would have made the score 3-3.

The Brazilian scored the equaliser when the teams drew 2-2 at St James' Park in December and he can get on the scoresheet once more in another potentially high-scoring contest.

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