Newcastle vs Chelsea prediction 20.12.2025 | Premier League

The current season could be the worst since the Saudis bought Newcastle. After almost half of the season, the team from St. James' Park is only a mid-table team and needs much more consistency to secure one of the Champions League positions. Newcastle won only two of the last five matches across all competitions. In the most recent outing, they won 2-1 at home in the EFL Cup against Fulham. The home side was better throughout the game, but needed a late second-half goal to finally break the guests. However, a victory like that might provide a major confidence spark ahead of the encounter against Chelsea. 

Although Newcastle are not playing well this season, according to reports, the board has no intention of sacking Eddie Howe. They still feel that he is the best for the job. However, things could change if Howe's team remains a bottom-half team for an extended period. 

Newcastle's Valentino Livramento injured his knee against Fulham and it is currently unknown if he will be ready for Saturday's game. If he is unavailable, that will be another big blow to Newcastle's defense as the team runs out of options. For the game against Chelsea, unavailable are already Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall, and William Osula, while Nick Pope and Jamaal Lascelles are questionable. 

Chelsea seems good enough to be among the best four Premier League teams, but they still lack the quality to compete for the most important title in English football. After some weaker games in recent weeks, Chelsea are now eight points behind the league leader, Arsenal. Enzo Maresca's team returned to the right track with two victories in the last two matches. In the previous game, Chelsea won 3-1 on the road in the EFL Cup against Cardiff. After a dull first half, the guests dominated in the second 45 minutes and secured a semifinal.

After a win against Cardiff, Chelsea's head coach Enzo Maresca was very satisfied. He said, "I'm just happy, we're going to play another semifinal and I think it's what the fans deserve. These are the kind of games that I fall in love even more with the players because you cannot imagine how easy it is to slip, to slide, because they are tricky games."

Chelsea also have some problems with injuries. Levi Colwill, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, Romeo Lavia, and Estevao are unavailable for the trip to St. James' Park.