In folklore, this is the time of year when the dead mingle with the living and witches ply their dark trade. On paper Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle is the league leaders versus a team in football’s equivalent of the twilight zone - the bottom three - but the recent takeover of Toon means there is more home-side impetus in this pre-Hallowe’en event than previously expected.

A fourth league win in a row would secure pole position for a third week running, matching our start to the 2018/19 campaign. Unusually, no match involving the top three has been selected for broadcast this weekend, so all have the same 3pm Saturday start.

The Londoners have won five of the past six Premier League meetings between these two sides, including 2-0 home and away victories last season, but St James’ Park does love to see Cockney wings clipped.

In December 2014, for instance, the Magpies ended Chelsea’s 265-day unbeaten run in the league despite being reduced to 10 men. Last season’s victory was one of only five for the Blues in the past 17 Tyneside trips.

That said, the champions of Europe arrive with the second-best away record in the top flight and a record of one defeat in 13, so Thomas Tuchel is well placed to ward off the spectre of defeat this weekend.

The Bavarian has coached the Blues to our fourth-best opening to a Premier League campaign behind 2004/05 (27 points), 2014/15 (23) and 2010/11 (also 22, but a better goal difference).

Chelsea team news

While Chelsea boast the highest rate of shots on target at 57.3 per cent, Newcastle have the lowest with 37 per cent. Seventeen different Blues have found the net so far this season and there is a year-on-year improvement in our shooting that is backed by the stats. Last season 10.4 per cent of shots became goals, or 14th best in the top flight. So far this campaign the rate has shot up to 18.3 per cent, the best in the division.

Last weekend it was a game of two sevens: seven team changes, seven strikes, smashing our previous best against Norwich (4-0 twice). The Cobham crew accounted for five of them and the last time six Blues goals came from English players was the 6-0 against this weekend’s hosts back in 1980/81, when Gary Chivers, Colin Lee (3), Mike Fillery and Clive Walker were on target.In recent weeks the Blues’ wing-backs have noticeably popped up in more central areas, messing with opponents’ positioning. Both scored against Norwich with wonderful finishes but will the Magpies be as generous as the team one place below them?

The champions of Europe will have to match our upbeat hosts physically and play with intensity and pace in order to avoid an upset. Only Liverpool have a better away record than Chelsea, who have only conceded once on the road and not yet in the opening half hour. Conversely, a quarter of our Premier League goals have been scored in the final 15 minutes.

Thomas Tuchel saw a flurry of players becoming unavailable recently and with Malmo to come as soon as Tuesday he seems likely to prefer to share the workload carefully.

Happily, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta have returned to training along with longer-term absentee Christian Pulisic, who is not quite ready to return to match action yet. Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Toni Rudiger and Thiago Silva should be fresh after sitting out midweek, and in-form Ruben Loftus-Cheek is over a hip problem. However Mateo Kovacic has a new hamstring injury picked up in training.

The continued absence of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner means Kai Havertz is likely to retain his place at the head of a front three that decimated Norwich, flanked by Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount. Newcastle interim coach Graeme Jones will know what to expect from several Chelsea players, though: he was England’s ‘attacking coach’ under Gareth Southgate during the Euros.

Trick or treat for Toon

By changing managers mid-season, the Magpies’ board must hope it will be one for sorrow, two for joy. But for his opening match at Crystal Palace, Newcastle’s interim coach Jones sacrificed adventure for solidity, the aim being to concede fewer goals.

He wants the same set of players to be better on the ball and in their organisation and work-rate off it. When revealing his line-up he named the substitutes – including usual starters Joelinton and Joe Willock – to emphasise the importance of the squad.

Emil Krafth and Ryan Fraser were drafted into defence and midfield respectively as the formation mutated from Steve Bruce’s 4-1-4-1 to a 5-3-2, offering more shielding of their rearguard.

They restricted Palace to one goal, but only Norwich have conceded more goals and good chances overall, and Toon are particularly susceptible after the break, conceding 12 times in second halves.

Saturday’s draw against the Glaziers meant Newcastle stayed 19th and winless in the Premier League and they remain, along with Watford, the only team without a clean sheet in 2021/22. Their defence has often succumbed under sustained pressure when not clearing their lines but they scrapped hard and in numbers at Selhurst Park.

Palace summoned 16 attempts on goal, but for only the second time in Newcastle’s league campaign none came from a set-play. Chelsea are one of the strongest outfits in the league at those attacking situations.

The Newcastle system change aims to liberate the front two of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin from defensive responsibilities. The Frenchman, the biggest Gallowgate End crowd-pleaser since fellow countryman David Ginola (or possibly the 18th Century hangman who plied his trade there) was not at his elusive best last weekend, but Wilson’s improvised equaliser, fed by Krafth, was his sixth strike in six league games.

Karl Darlow continues to deputise for the injured Freddie Woodman, who started the season in goal, and previous number one Martin Dubravka. Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is available after serving a suspension.

Spot-kick spree

Between 1997 and 2008 Chelsea lost on penalty kicks five times in a row but Tuesday’s shootout victory against Southampton was our third of the season in all competitions – something the club has never previously recorded.

Southampton met the same fate as Aston Villa in the previous round of this competition and UEFA Super Cup final victims Villarreal. On each occasion the match finished 1-1 and in all three shoot-outs Chelsea failed once and the opponents missed twice. Twelve-yard glovemaster Kepa brilliantly tipped Theo Walcott’s effort onto the post on Tuesday – his eighth shoot-out save, also a club record.

2021/22 shoot-out penaltiesMarcos Alonso 2 out of 2Reece James 2/2Cesar Azpilicueta 1/1Ross Barkley 1/1Callum Hudson-Odoi 1/1Jorginho 1/1Romelu Lukaku 1/1Christian Pulisic 1/1Toni Rudiger 1/1Ben Chilwell 1/2Mason Mount 1/2Kai Havertz 0/1

All-time shoot-out savesKepa Arrizabalaga 8Petr Cech 6Kevin Hitchcock 4Ed De Goey 2Eddie Niedzwiecki 2Willy Caballero 1Henrique Hilario 1Ross Turnbull 1

Weekend draw

The ties for the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup will be drawn by former footballer Jimmy Bullard and actor Daniel Mays from 10.30am on Sky Sports’ Saturday morning show Soccer AM, free to view on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel.

Chelsea are one of five London clubs (alongside Arsenal, Brentford, Tottenham and West Ham) to make the last eight, with Leicester, Liverpool and Sunderland the other teams left. The one-off matches will be played in the last midweek before Christmas.

Succession

With a strike from that Thor’s hammer of a left foot against Norwich, Ben Chillwell scored in a fourth Premier League game in a row, the first Blue to do so since Eden Hazard in October/November 2016. Chelsea’s Premier League record stands at nine goals over seven successive matches set by striker Mark Stein from December 1993 to February 1994, but our sequence king remains Roy Bentley, who notched nine in eight consecutive Division One outings in September and October 1952.

Group H round-up

Having lost league leadership in Sweden and slipped to third with a draw last weekend, Malmo beat second-placed AIK on Wednesday with a Veljko Birmancevic goal. Their final action before Chelsea’s visit is a trip to Uppsala on Saturday to play mid-table Sirius.

Juventus were without injured Federico Bernadeschi and Moise Kean for their shock late defeat to visitors Sassuolo, in which left-back Mattia De Sciglio sustained knee damage. The Old Lady slipped 13 points behind Serie A leaders Milan, and makes the journey east to Hellas Verona on Saturday.

Zenit pulled three points clear at the top with a 7-1 thrashing of age-old rivals Spartak last Sunday. To offer the best preparation ahead of Tuesday’s potentially decisive second meeting with Juventus in Turin, the Russian Premier League permitted Sergei Semak’s team to entertain second-placed Dinamo Moscow this evening (Friday).

Five-sub IFAB

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s law-makers, this week recommended permanently allowing five substitutions in matches. Each competition can choose whether to embrace that number or, like the Premier League, stick with the previous three. However, widespread uptake could prompt a rethink in England, where participating clubs recently voted to allow five replacements in the Carabao Cup.

Matchweek 10 Premier League fixtures

SaturdayLeicester v Arsenal 12.30pm (BT Sport)Burnley v Brentford 3pmLiverpool v Brighton 3pmMan City v Crystal Palace 3pmNewcastle v Chelsea 3pmWatford v Southampton 3pmTottenham v Man Utd 5.30pm (Sky Sports)

SundayNorwich v Leeds 2pm (Sky Sports)Aston Villa v West Ham 4.30pm (Sky Sports)

MondayWolves v Everton 8pm (Sky Sports)