Newcastle v Chelsea tips: Will Sarri’s Blues sweep Toon aside?

After two wins from two, Chelsea will look to continue their perfect Premier League start under Maurizio Sarri when they head to Newcastle this afternoon.

The Blues have impressed in wins over Huddersfield Town and Arsenal. Defensive weaknesses remain but there’s a renewed vigour about the Stamford Bridge outfit following Sarri’s arrival as successor to Antonio Conte.

And they’ll be confident of another win against a Magpies side who are yet to win this season.

Match odds

They may be the visitors, but Chelsea are a confident-looking 4/6 to win on Tyneside. Rafa Benitez’s hosts are the 21/5 outsiders, with 11/4 saying the game ends in a draw.

Sarri’s side have fired in six goals already this season. There’s 18/5 about Chelsea to win and over 3.5 goals in the match.

Talking tactics

It could be a long afternoon for the Toon. Newcastle have to find a way of disrupting Chelsea’s three-man midfield of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and either Mateo Kovavic or Ross Barkley.

It’s the crux to Sarri’s 4-3-3 system, and so far it’s worked a treat. Newcastle also must keep tabs on Willian, Pedro and Eden Hazard, who are likely to cut in off the flanks and drive at the Magpies’ defence.

Goalscorer odds

There are plenty of goals in this Chelsea side. Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud share joint-favouritism to score first at 4/1.

Sarri has been careful to ease Hazard back into the fold following his World Cup exploits with Belgium. The winger could be unleashed fully for the first time today, and is 5/1 to bag the opener and 17/10 anytime.

Pedro is one to watch too. The Spaniard scored against both Huddersfield and Arsenal. He’s 11/2 to score first and 15/8 anytime.

For the hosts, Joselu and Salomon Rondon are deemed their most likely first goalscorers, with each at 9/1 to break the deadlock.

Click here for all our Newcastle v Chelsea odds.

Match info

When: Sunday, 4:00pm

Where: St James’ Park

How to watch: Sky Sports Premier League / Main Event

All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication