As you were: Our prediction for Newcastle United's lineup to face Chelsea on Sunday

Newcastle United travel to the Capital on Sunday to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League - Kick-off is at 2pm live on Sky Sports.

The pundits haven't been kind to Newcastle ahead of this one with a second consecutive defeat being predicted, but Eddie Howe won't go down without a fight.

However, in his prediction write up, Chris Sutton mentioned how Newcastle haven't changed their system since last season which sets us up nicely for our prediction of what the starting XI will be on Sunday.

We don't see Eddie Howe making any changes to the team that lost to Brighton at St James' Park. The Magpies actually played really well for the majority of the game but couldn't find a route to goal, so we expect Howe will persist with the same personnel with hopefully a few new ideas sprinkled in.

Goalkeeper

Nick Pope - One of two players who can claim any semblance of consistency this season.

Defenders

Tino Livramento - Kieran Trippier is still injured so Tino needs to continue to make a good case for himself over his old club.

Fabian Schar - Fabi has been up and down this season but we miss his defence splitting long balls when he's not around so we can't drop him - not that we have a replacement anyway.

Dan Burn - The only other person other than Nick Pope who can say they've been consistent this season. He made some crucial blocks against Brighton last week.

Lewis Hall - Hall couldn't face Chelsea last season as he was still on their books, so this will be the first time he is unleashed on his former employers.

Midfielders

Sandro Tonali - Too big of a name to drop but if Howe was going to make any changes it could be Sandro who gets cut for Sean Longstaff or Joe Willock.

Bruno Guimaraes (c) - Plucked his wick out last week to try and get something out of the game. There's still some debate over whether he was the right choice for the captaincy, but there's no doubt he gets into the starting XI every time.

Joelinton - Missed a couple of chances last week but at least he was getting into the right areas. Still not at his best, but it'll come.

Forwards

Jacob Murphy - Murph was poor last week but Miguel Almiron was poorer when he came on so by default, Murphy will keep his place.

Alexander Isak - Had seven shots last week but missed a couple of glorious opportunities. Seems to be lacking confidence but a goal will sort that out.

Anthony Gordon - Can the new contract spur him on to getting back on the scoresheet. He owes little Ivy a celebration.

There's always the possibility that Eddie Howe reinstates Harvey Barnes to the lineup over Jacob Murphy, pushing Gordon out to the right, but this might be too big of a game to waste Gordon on the wrong flank which is why we feel he'll stick with Murphy.

Lloyd Kelly over Lewis Hall is also a possibility as Eddie Howe may want to protect Hall from the occasion.