Chelsea v Newcastle United Preview: Hazard to lead the charge

By Soccerlens on August 25th, 2012

Table toppers Chelsea area top priced 1.53 with Paddy Power to beat Newcastle at Stamford Bridge and are fancied to maintain their 100% record in what promises to be a hard fought battle/

The Blues made it two out of two when beating Reading 4-2 in midweek, where they were impressive going forward but their defending looked very slack at times.

They will certainly have to be tighter at the back in this clash as Newcastle have only failed to score in two of their last 17 Premier League away games.

They ground out a hard fought win over Spurs last weekend, and Alan Pardew’s men can never be underestimated.

However the stats clearly favour Chelsea, as Newcastle had gone 18 league games without a win at Stamford Bridge until they beat the Blues 2-0 in May 2012.

The Magpies also ended a run of no wins in nine in the league against the Londoners with that victory.

I think Chelsea will prove too strong for them this time, and one player who has really impressed in both games this season is new signing Eden Hazard.

He has been heavily involved in creating the goals, and was unlucky not to find the net himself against Reading.

It’s surely only a matter of time before he gets on the scoresheet, and looks worth a wager at 7.5 with bet365 and Betfred to net the opener.

Match Pointers

• Newcastle ended a run of 18 league games without a victory at Chelsea with their 2-0 win here at last season
• Eden Hazard has scored 11 goals and assisted 12 in his last 16 appearances for Lille and Chelsea combined
• Only Manchester City (47) and Manchester United (44) have picked up more points than Newcastle (38) in 2012
• No defender has scored more top-flight goals since 2010-11 than Branislav Ivanovic (nine)
• Newcastle have scored a total of 998 goals in the Premier League since 1992

Topics: Chelsea, English Premier League, Match Reports, Newcastle United