It’s going to be another epic battle as Newcastle United welcome Chelsea Fc to the St. James Park.
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“Is the job harder than I thought?”
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“We got a point that was not what we wanted but it was not too bad”.
Jose Mourinho has never won at St. James Park, the last match being a 1-2 defeat on 6th December 2014, and as a manager has a record of P5 W0 D2 L3 there. The skipper has fallen out-of-favour in recent weeks so Kurt Zouma could start alongside Gary Cahill at the back.
The Chelsea boss is yet to win a league game on Tyneside and had lost on his previous three visits, and that led him to question Newcastle’s mentality. The Brazilian-born Spanish worldwide was handed a suspension retrospectively, while Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista had his own red card rescinded. No problem, you can do it. And that’s saying something, since it’s not like we’ve been going like gangbusters here in the early season or, for that matter, in the second half of last season. “Obviously the team is hurt but as I was saying although I don’t play, score goals, and tackle, my communication on the pitch is positive for the team, so I prefer to be quiet”. I wish we’d have won, but I think the belief has been there. We told the players to end the week well, and their attitudes were magnificent.
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois has been ruled out for the foreseeable future after knee surgery so Asmir Begovic will once again deputise in goal.
José Mourinho had harsh words for his players after they narrowly avoided defeat at Newcastle, rating Chelsea’s first-half display in their 2-2 draw among the worst he had seen in his seven years at the club. The Magpies are without Massadio Haidara, Papiss Cisse, Karl Darlow, Steven Taylor, Paul Dummett, Emmanuel Riviere and Curtis Good, while Sylvain Marveaux, Cheick Tiote, Jack Colback, Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat are all doubts.
Newcastle’s woes are compounded by a burgeoning injury list.
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Mourinho is still to win a league match at St James’ Park, drawing two and losing three times there in his two spells at Stamford Bridge.
