da betsson： Newcastle United will look to put an end to four successive Premier League defeats when they host Chelsea on the final day of the season at St James’ Park on Sunday.
da betobet： A run of four straight victories before the latest sequence of results had taken them past the magic 40-point mark and preserved their top flight spot for at least another 12 months, but they have struggled since.
The losses against West Bromwich Albion and Watford last Saturday were particularly disappointing, but the Tyneside outfit were much improved in their 1-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday night, and if they had a clinical striker they would have taken at least a point against Spurs – if not all three.
Rafa Benitez will be determined for his team to end what has been a generally positive campaign on a high against one of his former clubs, but it won’t be an easy task against the Blues seeing as they are still chasing a top-four spot and Champions League football – they lie two points behind Liverpool ahead of the weekend.
Benitez made two changes and switched formation from the reverse against the Hornets for the trip to the capital, with DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Ritchie coming back in for Javier Manquillo and Jacob Murphy, and while he has at least one enforced change this weekend with loanee Kenedy ineligible, he may well be considering making further alterations.
Here is how Newcastle must line up against Chelsea, ahead of Martin Dubravka in goal…
Benitez brought Yedlin back into the defence against Spurs after Manquillo failed to take his opportunity at Watford, and the American lined up in what has been a familiar back four of him, captain Jamaal Lascelles, Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett in recent weeks.
The quartet did well enough against Spurs on Wednesday, but while the Spanish boss decided to switch things up at right-back last weekend, he should do the same at left-back this time around.
Massadio Haidara looks set to leave the club when his contract expires this summer, and having been on the substitutes’ bench in recent weeks he should start ahead of Dummett against Chelsea for his farewell appearance.
Benitez switched things up slightly in terms of formation at Wembley as he went with a 4-2-3-1 system instead of his usual 4-4-1-1 – even though really they are a variation of each other – with Jonjo Shelvey and Mo Diame sitting in front of the back four following some impressive performances in recent weeks.
The Spanish manager has Isaac Hayden and Mikel Merino champing at the bit to start however following limited minutes in recent weeks, and he should bring the former into the starting XI in place of Diame for the visit of Antonio Conte’s side, sitting in alongside Shelvey.
With Islam Slimani suspended, Benitez has chosen to stick with Dwight Gayle up top in recent games, but his blank against Tottenham means that he has now gone nine Premier League games without a goal, and Toon fans on Twitter want him to be sold.
The Spanish boss should look to give Joselu what is a rare start in the last few months for the visit of Chelsea, with the in-form Ayoze Perez behind him and Matt Ritchie continuing on the right flank.
Blues loanee Kenedy is unavailable to face his parent club, and while Jacob Murphy struggled to make an impression from the start against Watford, he should be handed another opportunity to make a big impact.
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