This perfectly sums up the divide between Chelsea and Newcastle United
Newcastle United and Chelsea met today at Stamford Bridge.
A messy game at both ends of the pitch.
Newcastle United not great at the back and putting extra pressure on their defence by giving the ball away higher up the pitch.
United creating plenty chances and positive situations of their own, that should have been enough to score a couple of goals for a point, or even three or more goals for the win.
Not saying that we would have deserved the victory but if NUFC had taken the chances that they should have done, that would have been the case.
The big stand out for me though, that perfectly sums up the divide between Chelsea and Newcastle United, was this.
Newcastle United fans were calling Eddie Howe for not giving rookie inexperienced £10m striker Will Osula more of a chance today from the bench.
Whilst Chelsea had a £108m World Cup winning midfielder who was on the bench, in Enzo Fernandez.
Fernandez actually one of the half a billion pounds reserve team that Maresca played in midweek, when he changed all eleven players from his Premier League first team that started against Liverpool last Sunday.
Maresca also had a reserve left-back on the bench (Cucurella) who cost more (£65m) than the biggest signing in Newcastle United’s history (£63m Alexander Isak).
The divide is massive.
Amongst the many players who aren’t even included in the Chelsea 25 man senior Premier League squad is Ben Chilwell, who was starting for England only seven months ago and cost Chelsea £50m.
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe had two keepers on his bench and seven of his subs (Kelly, Osula, Longstaff, Jacob Murphy, Ruddy, Krafth, Lewis Miley) cost a combined £24m! Chelsea pay more than that for one of the kids to fetch the ball when it goes out of play!
These financial realities don’t excuse all of the times United gave the ball away today or failed to punish Chelsea when they had the chances. However, they do sum up the yawning financial chasm that allows Chelsea to have a team of back up players that cost more than Newcastle United’s entire squad.
Chelsea 2 Newcastle 1 – Sunday 27 October 2pm
(Stats via BBC Sport)
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Isak 32
Chelsea:
Jackson 18, Palmer 47
Possession was Newcastle 49% Chelsea 51%
Total shots were Newcastle 11 Chelsea 17
Shots on target were Newcastle 3 Chelsea 7
Corners were Newcastle 4 Chelsea 7
Touches in the box Newcastle 26 Chelsea 32
Newcastle United team v Chelsea:
Pope, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall (Kelly 89), Joelinton (Osula 89), Bruno, Tonali (Longstaff 68), Barnes (Willock 68), Isak, Almiron (Jacob Murphy 68)
UNUSED SUBS:
Ruddy, Krafth, Lewis Miley, Vlachodimos
(Chelsea 2 Newcastle 1 – Instant Newcastle United fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)
Newcastle United upcoming matches confirmed to end of January 2025:
Wednesday 30 October – Newcastle v Chelsea (7.45pm) Sky Sports+
Saturday 2 November – Newcastle v Arsenal (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Sunday 10 November – Forest v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports
Monday 25 November – Newcastle v West Ham (8pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 30 November – Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Wednesday 4 December – Newcastle v Liverpool (7.30pm) Amazon
Saturday 7 December – Brentford v Newcastle (3pm)
Saturday 14 December – Newcastle v Leicester (3pm)
Saturday 21 December – Ipswich v Newcastle (3pm)
Thursday 26 December – Newcastle v Villa (3pm) Amazon
Monday 30 December – Man U v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 4 January – Tottenham v Newcastle (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Wednesday 15 January – Newcastle v Wolves (7.30pm) TNT Sports
Saturday 18 January – Newcastle v Bournemouth (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Saturday 25 January – Southampton v Newcastle (3pm)
