Newcastle United v Chelsea: Premier League – live!

8.24am EST 08:24

Half-time entertainment courtesy of Oliver Lewis. “Apologies to go on a bit of a rant, but can you answer me, watching Steve Bruce’s football, why Newcastle fans are constantly called entitled for daring to suggest the absolute garbage he serves up regularly is not what we want to watch? It is effective, we get enough points to stay up but it is dreadful.

“It is constantly brought up that we were no more attacking under Rafa. Yes we were fairly negative the majority of Rafa’s time. However for his last six months, Rafa had finally found a more exciting system that may have been counter attacking but led to us scoring plenty of goals and playing the best football we have for years.

“Rafa walks as Ashley finally commits to spending £40m but only on Joelinton rather than the cheaper and proven Rondon and reinforcing. That does not look so unreasonable a call now does it? Bruce comes in. Gets financial backing. Drops all our players who can pass the ball and serves up utterly dreadful football, continually blaming Rafa for training our players to be too effective defensively.

“No Newcastle fan ‘expects’ us to be challenging for anything more than midtable considering the investment involved. We are continually patronised as if hoofing it up the pitch is all we should rightly expect. I am reminded of when Brendan Rodgers brought his Liverpool to Sunderland and said he thought the people of the north east would be honoured to see the football he brought.

“I am tired at looking enviously at clubs coming up from the Championship on half the budget looking like Barcelona compared to us. Good football brings joy and excitement. Functional hoofing our way to 15th does not.

“Everyone says Bruce is a nice guy, it’s why a lot of pundits have a lot of time for him. He is also not the root cause at all. But Newcastle are entitled to call BS that Bruce is doing a ‘brilliant job’. This is the endless modern limbo of Newcastle: utterly joyless, utterly sapping and utterly hopeless.

“Rant over, and of course now Bruce will go on to score a fluky win to make me look stupid.”

8.17am EST 08:17

HALF TIME: Newcastle United 0-1 Chelsea

Chelsea have been dominant and deserve their lead … but they got a little bit sloppy towards the end of that half, giving up possession and a couple of half-chances that’ll give Newcastle a little succour. More soon!

8.16am EST 08:16

45 min +1: Lascelles is down again, feeling the back of his knee. Don’t bank on him coming back out for the second half.

8.15am EST 08:15

45 min: Murphy is booked for barging into the back of Mount. There wasn’t too much in that one, either, but the referee is in an uncompromising mood this afternoon.

8.14am EST 08:14

44 min: Saint-Maximin slides Lewis into space down the left. Lewis crosses deep. Murphy heads down to nobody in particular. Chelsea clear.

8.13am EST 08:13

43 min: All a bit scrappy now, as both teams take turns to give the ball away.

8.11am EST 08:11

41 min: Ziyech curls it towards the far post. Too high, too floaty. Easy for Darlow.

8.11am EST 08:11

40 min: Hayden is booked for getting both ball and man as he slides in on Kovacic. He’s not happy. That looked nothing more than a garden-variety foul. Free kick, anyway. A dangerous position for Chelsea out on the right.

8.10am EST 08:10

39 min: Ziyech is shoved over in the playground style by Clark. He jumps up and takes a quick free kick, wedging down the middle and nearly finding Werner, just inside the Newcastle box. Darlow comes out to claim. Some fine proactive keeping.

8.08am EST 08:08

38 min: On comes the doctor, and Lascelles is good to go again it seems. He’s still trotting around rather gingerly, though.

8.07am EST 08:07

36 min: The corner is useless. Chelsea zip up the other end through Werner, who drives at Lascelles down the left. Lascelles stretches a leg and pokes away just in time. Ziyech shoots harmlessly over. Lascelles goes down, holding the back of his left knee.

8.06am EST 08:06

35 min: And now another chance for the Toon, as Abraham ships possession, allowing Joelinton to go on a tear up the other end. He slips the ball wide left for Saint-Maximin, who cuts inside and looks for the top right. Kante deflects out for a corner.

8.04am EST 08:04

32 min: All of a sudden, there’s some space for Saint-Maximin, just inside the Chelsea box on the left. He considers a curler towards the top right. Instead, he cuts inside and looks for space to shoot. Chelsea close ranks, so he backheels towards Murphy on the left. Clever idea, but Mendy comes out to snaffle, and Newcastle’s most promising position so far comes to nought.

8.01am EST 08:01

30 min: Chelsea should be two up. Chilwell snaffles possession out on the left and shuttles the ball forward for Abraham. The striker has his back to goal, so lays off to Werner on the penalty spot. He’s one on one with Darlow! He must score, but tries to guide a cute reverse shot into the bottom left and sends it wide of the post.

Chelsea’s Timo Werner reacts after his miss. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 8.09am EST

7.59am EST 07:59

28 min: Kovacic plays a lazy ball straight to Murphy, who slips forward for Joelinton. Mendy is on the edge of his box, so Joelinton tries to beat him from the centre circle. A good idea, poorly executed. His long punt bounces harmlessly to the left of goal. That would have been some way to ending his long Premier League drought.

7.56am EST 07:56

25 min: Murphy blazes down the right and looks to have won a corner off Chilwell. The pair clatter into each other as the ball flies out of play, and the referee gives Chelsea the benefit of the doubt and a free kick. A generous decision. A rare chance for Newcastle to test Chelsea is lost.

7.54am EST 07:54

23 min: Chelsea stroke it around some more. Then James suddenly gains a yard down the right and curls low. Werner can’t quite get to it in the middle. Werner might have been just offside had he connected, but it’s immaterial now.

Chelsea’s Reece James controls the ball. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/NMC Pool/Reuters

Updated at 8.06am EST

7.52am EST 07:52

21 min: Chelsea continue to dominate. A long passing sequence ends when Rudiger and Chilwell confuse each other and the ball rolls out of play. Right now, only Chelsea can stop Chelsea.

7.50am EST 07:50

19 min: Manquillo has the opportunity to launch a Newcastle attack, with Chelsea committed upfield and players available on both wings. He hesitates and opts to play it backwards instead. Newcastle’s early ambition didn’t last long.

7.48am EST 07:48

17 min: Chelsea stroke it around in a very pretty manner. Newcastle eventually get it off them, Hayden attempting to spring Saint-Maximin clear down the left. It’s all too agricultural and a heavy pass flies out of play.

7.46am EST 07:46

15 min: The gambit doesn’t work. Werner is sent scampering down the inside-left channel again, and fires across the face of goal. Abraham is one size of boot away from converting in the middle. The ball continues harmlessly through.

7.45am EST 07:45

14 min: Newcastle string a few passes together but don’t go anywhere in particular. An attempt to nix Chelsea’s momentum more than anything else.

7.44am EST 07:44

12 min: Chelsea look extremely dangerous every time they go forward. They’ve pretty much taken up where they left off against Sheffield United a fortnight ago. Here’s Mary Waltz: “My pre-season thoughts on Chelsea: wild offensive output, sieve-like defensive, lots of 4-3 games. Reality: a disciplined title-contending squad. Lampard has morphed in to Jose without the psycho drama.” Yep, they’re looking good. There’s still plenty of time for a Mourinho-style meltdown, though. Leeds and Bielsa come to Stamford Bridge in a couple of weeks. Let’s see where we are after that.

7.42am EST 07:42

GOAL! Newcastle United 0-1 Chelsea (Fernandez og 10)

Werner and Mount work a short corner on the right. Mount gets some space and fires across the face of goal. At the fat post, Fernandez can’t sort his feet out and bundles into his own net. He claims a push from Chilwell, but he wasn’t touched before he met the ball, so the goal stands.

Federico Fernandez of Newcastle United scores an own goal to give Chelsea the lead. Photograph: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell wheels away in celebration after his pressuring forced Fernandez to turn the ball into his own net. Photograph: Alex Pantling/NMC Pool/Reuters

Updated at 7.58am EST

7.40am EST 07:40

9 min: Ziyech curls dangerously from the right. Abraham probably should score from eight yards, but allows Darlow to tip over. Corner. From which …

7.38am EST 07:38

7 min: Abraham holds up for Kovacic, who rushes in from the right and tries to steer a shot goalwards. It’s high and handsome. Chelsea are beginning to dominate after Newcastle’s early flurry.

7.36am EST 07:36

5 min: Ziyech pulls back for James, who volleys into a thicket. Blocked. Nice attempt at the classic Beckham-Scholes corner, though. Full marks for ambition and a pretty high score for execution too.

7.35am EST 07:35

4 min: Werner makes his first run down the inside-left channel. He shoots low, hard and diagonally. It’s going into the bottom right, but Darlow spectacularly tips around the post. Corner.

Chelsea’s Timo Werner watches as his shot is saved by Newcastle keeper Karl Darlow. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/NMC Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 7.57am EST

7.34am EST 07:34

3 min: Mendy flaps a bit at the corner, but does enough to guide it clear.

7.32am EST 07:32

2 min: From the corner, Saint-Maximin probes down the right and wins another corner. Good start by Newcastle, this.

7.32am EST 07:32

1 min: Some early Newcastle verve, as Joelinton wins a couple of free kicks by putting himself about. From the second, Fernandez is afforded a free header out on the right and Chilwell is forced to put behind for a corner.

7.31am EST 07:31

And we’re off! Chelsea get the ball rolling, but only after the players take a knee. No room for racism. Black lives matter.

7.28am EST 07:28

Here come the teams! Chelsea arrive first, sporting third-choice pink and purple. Newcastle then rock up in their famous black and white stripes. A snatch of the best running-out music in the league, and we’ll be off in a minute.

7.17am EST 07:17

The managers have been speaking to BT Sport. Steve Bruce says he “couldn’t risk Wilson with the amount of games coming up … Almiron [as sub] has nothing to do with his agent, he’s been halfway around the world so it’s only right he starts on the bench … Chelsea are a very good side so we’re in for a very difficult game.”

Meanwhile here’s Frank Lampard on his defence: “Thiago travelled back from South America and with his age I have to look after him … some people would say they’d like to have five centre-backs of our quality, but to deal with it week to week and get them the game time, probably one or two of them don’t like me very much … it depends on how you train, how you are, and how you take your chance, so those are the rules.”

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce and Chelsea manager Frank Lampard have a chat before kick-off. Photograph: Lee Smith/NMC Pool/Reuters

Newcastle’s Steve Bruce labels Miguel Almirón’s agent a ‘two-bob amateur’

Updated at 7.36am EST

6.38am EST 06:38

Callum Wilson hasn’t made it. Newcastle had hoped the striker would recover from his hamstring injury, but he hasn’t even made the bench. He’s one of four changes to the team that went down 2-0 at Southampton, with Fabian Schar, Jeff Hendrick and Miguel Almiron dropping to the bench. Ciaran Clark, Javi Manquillo, Isaac Hayden and Joelinton are the men taking their place.

Chelsea are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. Only one change to the team that saw off Sheffield United with ease: Antonio Rudiger replaces Thiago Silva, who is rested in the wake of international duty with Brazil.

Chelsea players during the warm up before the match. Photograph: Alex Pantling/NMC Pool/Reuters

Updated at 7.39am EST

6.32am EST 06:32

The teams

Newcastle United: Darlow, Manquillo, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Lewis, Murphy, Hayden, Sean Longstaff, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.Subs: Schar, Carroll, Shelvey, Hendrick, Krafth, Almiron, Gillespie.

Chelsea: Mendy, James, Zouma, Rudiger, Chilwell, Kovacic, Kante, Mount, Ziyech, Abraham, Werner.Subs: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Jorginho, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Azpilicueta, Emerson Palmieri.

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).

6.04am EST 06:04

Preamble

The international break came at the wrong time for Chelsea, who were beginning to finally click under Frank Lampard. They would have surely played on, given the chance, having won their last four games to an aggregate tune of 13-1. Timo Werner scored five goals in his last four appearances; Hakim Ziyech was working his way into a groove; Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva were sorting out the mess at the back in short order. They’d have happily kept going.

They could quite easily pick up where they left off. Today’s opponents Newcastle United have suffered a couple of heavy defeats at home already this season: 0-3 to Brighton and 1-4 to Manchester United. Another three-goal shellacking could be on the cards if Newcastle play like they did in those games, and Chelsea create the sheer number of chances they did against Sheffield United.

But football’s not always a rational business. Chelsea don’t particularly like coming to Tyneside; they’ve lost on five of their last seven visits, the latest a last-minute smash-and-grab by Isaac Hayden back in January. They lost this fixture 3-0 three seasons ago. These things shouldn’t matter, but so often do. Additionally, Newcastle may enjoy the boost of welcoming back the hamstrung Callum Wilson, who has scored six and set up one of Toon’s ten league goals so far this campaign.

Both teams will, in their own sweet way, fancy their chances. This is delightfully set up, a fine return to the Premier League after a two-week hiatus. Newcastle can spring to seventh if they prevail this lunchtime; Chelsea can go top. It’s on!

Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.

Updated at 6.08am EST