'Massive match': Paul Merson says Newcastle v Chelsea on Saturday will have huge bearing on European places this season
If Newcastle United want to be back in Europe next season, they're going to have to start to find some form in the Premier League, and that needs to start with a win over Chelsea on Saturday. Kick-off at St James' Park is at 12:30pm live on TNT Sports.
Newcastle had a similarly slow start in the Premier League last season and turned things on around Christmas, and ended up sneaking into the Champions League. This season feels like that's going to be much harder to do, but a good run of results will lift the mood dramatically around St James' Park.
Chelsea can open up a big gap between us and them on Saturday with a win, but their record at St James' Park isn't the best.
We feel it may be a tad early to be panicking about European spots, but a defeat on Saturday could change all that.
Paul Merson can't separate the two sides
Paul Merson seems to think Saturday's game will have a big say on those European places in his score prediction for Sportskeeda.
"This is a massive football match. I was at Cardiff the other day watching Chelsea getting an important win in the cup. Now they take the trip to Newcastle in what is a fixture that can have great impact on who finishes inside the top four in the Premier League.
"If Chelsea win this game, they will be nine points ahead of Newcastle. I don't think Newcastle will be able to catch up with Chelsea if that kind of lead opens up between them.
"Both these teams will not catch Arsenal or Manchester City. So they are essentially fighting for the remaining European spots. And there is a lot of competition for teams to finish behind Arsenal and City.
"Newcastle can't get going at home for some reason. Now they play back-to-back games against Chelsea and Manchester United at home. If Newcastle win these two games, they have a strong chance of finishing in the top four.
"Cole Palmer returning to the Chelsea line-up is a massive boost to Enzo Maresca's team. We saw his impact against Everton. It wasn't the best of performances from Chelsea, but he still grabbed a really good goal.
"We must not forget that Chelsea were playing competitive football till July last season. They will be forced to manage the minutes of Palmer and others with so many games coming up in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see how many matches Palmer starts in the festive period.
"I didn't think Newcastle were great in their win over Fulham in the cup. Chelsea have been decent away from home as well. I think this will be a draw and that's a good result for Chelsea.
"Prediction: Newcastle United 1-1 Chelsea"
Merson looked at the wrong fixtures again
Contrary to what Merson said in his piece, Newcastle's game against Manchester United is actually at Old Trafford, followed by another away trip to Burnley, so picking up points at home on Saturday is even more important given our record on the road this season.
Beating Chelsea is not impossible by any means, but even with our recent run of form against them, it's also not a formality.
We need a good performance, and we'll get the points.
