‘I would take Bruno’: Chelsea fan Q&A ahead of Saturday's game

Newcastle United return to Premier League action on Saturday as they face Mauricio Pochettino's much-improved Chelsea.

In a rare move, Newcastle will kick-off at 3pm on Saturday at St James' Park as the fixture has not been selected for live broadcast in the UK.

There are murmurs online that Alexander Isak could be fit to play a part for Newcastle, otherwise, it's still a heavily depleted squad that will face a Chelsea side that are starting to find their way again.

How do Chelsea's fans see Saturday panning out?

We caught up with Chelsea fan Simon Phillips who runs a Chelsea Substack and asked him a few questions ahead of the fixture.

What are your hopes and expectations for this season?

I think realistically we can get a European spot but maybe not UCL. I hope for UCL, and so do Chelsea owners, but I think that might be a stretch too far this season at least.

How would you rate Pochettino's start to life at Chelsea?

Poch has been fantastic. The best thing he has done is create a family atmosphere and a unity back at the club. We have really lacked that in recent years and he has created a real collective positivity amongst all of the group. The players trust him and he is so good at developing young players.

Who is your best player? Who is one to watch for the future?

Our best player overall right now for me is Reece James - he's just superb when he is fully fit. If he can stay fit he will go down as one of the best right-backs to ever play the game. He's developing his role as club captain and if he continues with that he will go down alongside names like John Terry and Dennis Wise etc.

Player to watch is absolutely Cole Palmer. He's got the brains, the ability, the mentality, and has full belief in his own talent. He could go on the be a world-beater for Chelsea and England.

What are your thoughts on Newcastle and Eddie Howe?

I love Eddie Howe as a manager. He is one who I would have liked at Chelsea when we have had vacant roles in the recent past. He's similar to Poch in some ways in how he has instilled belief and developed a strong mentality and connection within the group. Newcastle have impressed me this season so far. They have to now deal with many injuries a lot like Chelsea have done recently, so it'll be interesting to see if they can come through that. But they play some nice football and have made themselves into a force this season.

If you could steal one Newcastle player for your own team, who would it be and why?

Lewis Hall! Haha! I'd have him back any day of the week and would not have let him go. I know it's a loan but it's a loan with an obligation so he's basically a Toon player now. But other than Lewis, who I rate highly, I would take Bruno Guimaraes at Chelsea any day of the week. Chelsea have been really interested in him recently and looked at him as well as Moises Caicedo. He's a superb player.

Finally, what is your score prediction?

I am backing Chelsea (I don't always which apparently is blasphemy). But I'm feeling a little more confident now after the last couple of games and good performances from us going into this game. I think with the key players Toon have missing, we have a really good opportunity here to go there and get a win. It will be very tough, but I'm going 2-0 to Chelsea. I'm sure you guys will be reminding me of this when we get spanked on Saturday!! Haha!

Huge thanks to Si for taking the time to give us a view from the other side - we just hope your prediction is wrong.