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Chelsea v Newcastle: free-scoring Blues favourites for big win

| 01.05.2012

Chelsea welcome Newcastle to Stamford Bridge this Wednesday night with the Blues favourites at 8/15 to keep up their brilliant recent form.

Roberto Di Matteo’s side triumphed 3-0 at St. James’s Park earlier in the season and a game featuring three or more goals may be a tempting bet at 11/10.

It is a testament to Newcastle’s superb season that they are still in the hunt for Champions League qualification with three games remaining, but a crushing 4-0 loss away to Wigan on Saturday could indicate that they are not ready for a spot in Europe’s elite competition just yet.

They will face a much tougher task away to this year’s tournament finalists Chelsea, who in contrast mauled QPR 6-1 at Stamford Bridge this past weekend.

Punters should note that three or more goals have occurred in three of the last four meetings between these sides, and also that the Blues are unbeaten in their past nine league encounters with the Magpies.

The sparkling recent form of Chelsea should not be discounted under Di Matteo also and it’s difficult to see past the home side extending a run of 11 consecutive games without defeat.

Although four consecutive clean sheets were the prelude to Newcastle’s emphatic loss at the weekend, a side featuring a rejuvenated Fernando Torres could be primed to breach them on more than one occasion here.

Chelsea players are battling to win a starting berth for the FA Cup final this weekend, as well as the Champions League showpiece in Munich later this month, and the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou will be eager to get on the scoresheet to prove a point.

The visitors pose very real attacking threats themselves meanwhile, and Papiss Cisse and rumoured Blues target Demba Ba will fancy their chances of notching for the visitors, even if their contributions turn out to be in vain.

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Author

John Klee