Antonio Conte’s men are in the middle of a jam-packed fixture crisis with the Blues playing eight matches in the space of 24 days in January. The resultant congestion of the schedule has left the squad tired and many of them injured. Chelsea has won just two of those matches, one in a penalty shootout.
Their latest match was against Arsenal, where they were defeated 2-1 by the Gunners and knocked out of the Carabao Cup. The Blues have an extremely thin squad and have been made to pay for their lack of activity in the transfer market. Injuries to key players like Thibaut Courtois, Gary Cahill, Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, Alvaro Morata and Willian has left Conte short on players and the Italian has had to lose his night sleep to put out a first team. The likes of N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso has had to play endless football and are on the verge of suffering a burnout.
In the FA Cup third round fixture of ties, the Blues failed to get the job done while visiting Norwich City earlier this month and were scheduled with an extra game to play in this already jammed up fixture list. Conte reasoned that his men were suffering from fatigue and that was the reason for their insipid displays in the last few days. The Blues took another 120 minutes at Stamford Bridge followed by a penalty shootout to get the better of the Canaries. They now come up against Newcastle United and Conte will be desperate to have his team win the match after their exit from the Carabao Cup.
The manager confirmed that Courtois, Willian and Morata are out for the match while Cesc Fabregas has returned to training. Ross Barkley who made his debut against Arsenal is expected to start against Newcastle owing to the lack of options in the attacking third for the Blues.
Here is how the Blues are expected to line-up for their match against the Magpies
Formation: 3-5-2
Defence
Willy Caballero will get to start once again as Thibaut Courtois continues to recover from a knock on his ankle. The three-man defence is likely to be Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger for the match.
In left wing back, Marcos Alonso is expected to start once again with Davide Zappacosta at right wing back.
Midfield
A midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas and Ross Barkley can be expected for Chelsea.
Attack
Pedro can be expected to play as a supporting striker to Eden Hazard up top.
