Chelsea to triumph against Newcastle

Chelsea face Newcastle in what should be an entertaining game at the weekend. Will Frank Lampard’s impressive young side heap more misery on the Magpies? Have a read of our preview here:

Lampard the tutor

There were a fair few questions about Lampard’s ability to manage Chelsea when he took charge this summer and not without reason. He had done well with Derby by getting them to the Championship play-off final but he was still very inexperienced to be taking over a side that, in normal circumstances, have top-four ambitions as a minimum expectation.

The transfer embargo and his cult status as a player made this the ideal time for him to take charge as it vastly reduced the level of pressure on him to perform or at least get this young team into Champions League contention but, so far, he has done just that.

Two defeats, away at Manchester United and at home to Liverpool, are the only blemishes on the Blues record so far this season and convincing wins in the last two matches against Southampton and Brighton were an excellent response to the defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s side. Prior to this, Chelsea had thrashed Wolves at Molineux which is no mean feat.

Newcastle will have been buoyed by the win over crisis club Manchester United, but Chelsea are in far better form and play a more fluid game than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side – the omens are good.

What did you expect?

Is anyone really surprised to see Newcastle struggling? Steve Bruce walked into one of the toughest jobs in the Premier League while replacing Rafa Benitez also meant he had big shoes to fill.

The win against a poor Manchester United team will have not convinced many doubters that things are going to get drastically better and that is not a slight on Bruce. The team is being run in a way that severely hampers the ambition of the man in the dugout regardless of who it is.

Newcastle were once one of the highest spending sides in the English top-flight but they are far more prudent these days which means they have to expect a lot less than Magpies fans are comfortable with.

The signs have been ominous ever since Kevin Keegan ended his second spell in charge and things have not really got better. This season, staying up is the aim but getting something from Stamford Bridge will not be easy.

Chelsea v Newcastle betting tip

Chelsea have been playing some nice football under Lampard and should be able to see off Newcastle even though the Magpies have beaten Manchester United this season. With the Bruce fuming after their heavy defeat to Leicester don’t expect another landslide so backing this one to finish under 3.5 goals at odds of 4/7 is a fair shout.

Bet Under 3.5 goals on Unibet