Chelsea lost in the Premier League for the third time in a row on Saturday. Graham Potter’s men hardly came to visit Newcastle United and lost due to a goal from Joe Willock: 1-0. Chelsea are eighth and enter the World Cup break in deep sporting crisis. Newcastle is just going through a fantastic season and climbs back over Tottenham Hotspur to third place.
The four league games prior to the visit to St. James Park yielded only two points for Chelsea. In an attempt to turn the tide, Potter made no less than five changes in the line-up compared to the top match against Arsenal (0-1 loss). Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang disappeared from the attack and Armando Broja became the lone striker. Hakim Ziyech had to make do with a reserve after the former Ajax player had started midweek against Manchester City (2-0 loss) in the EFL Cup.
At Newcastle, Chris Wood and Joelinton joined Callum Wilson, who has been ill, and Jacob Murphy. The Newcastle defense, which as usual also includes Sven Botman, never ran into problems in the first half. Newcastle themselves became threatening via a volley from Miguel Almirón, who shot hard from inside the penalty area. On the stroke of half-time, Newcastle claimed a penalty for a handball from the sliding Trevoh Chalobah, but referee Robert Jones seemed to explain that as a legitimate ball on the ‘support arm’.
After the break, the pressure on Chelsea’s goal increased further. Édouard Mendy was barely able to save a punch from close by from the foot of Bruno Guimarães, but in the 67th minute he had no chance at all on a hard drive from Willock. The midfielder got the ball in front of his feet after a dribble by teammate Almirón and did not hesitate to drive it full into the intersection: 1-0. Chelsea had made a promising attempt a minute before via Conor Gallagher, who forced Nick Pope to a nice save.
Shortly after the goal, Ziyech was allowed to make his appearance as a substitute. However, Chelsea also failed to make a fist with the right wing striker in the team, even after Botman’s resignation. The defender suffered an injury three minutes before the end and saw from the bench how his teammates effortlessly took the narrow victory.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 34 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 32 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 30 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 29 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 23 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 22 |
| 7 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 21 |
| 9 | Fulham | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 19 |
| 10 | Brentford | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | -2 | 19 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | -3 | 19 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 17 |
| 13 | AFC Bournemouth | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | -14 | 16 |
| 14 | Leeds United | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 15 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -7 | 15 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | -5 | 14 |
| 17 | Everton | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -6 | 14 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -19 | 13 |
| 19 | Southampton | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | -14 | 12 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton W. | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -14 | 10 |