The two sides have clashed twice already this season. The Magpies claimed victory at St James’ Park but the Blues prevailed in London with a late equaliser before a penalty shootout success to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Since each will contest an FA Cup quarter-final next weekend, a further encounter in that competition is not out of the question.

Monday night football has a been a lucky charm for the Blues, who are unbeaten in the last eight Premier League games at the start of the week, winning five. So far this season Monday has delivered a clean sweep of derby wins - at Fulham in October, Tottenham a month later and Palace last month.

Despite dropped points at Brentford last week, a win over Newcastle would place the Blues one point behind our eighth-placed opponents, with a game in hand.

Eddie Howe’s side have dropped points in 10 of their 13 Premier League matches on the road, including eight defeats. The last visiting team to leave Stamford Bridge with all three points in the month of March were the Magpies’ local rivals Sunderland in 2001, 37 matches and 31 wins ago.

Chelsea, playing the first of five home matches from six across all competitions, have won four of our past five Premier League top-flight fixtures at home.

Team news

Chelsea’s season-long injury frustrations continue with Levi Colwill and Ben Chilwell newly ruled out and Conor Gallagher missing several days' training due to a virus, though Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella could be back available.

In midfield Cesare Casadei and Jimi Turiainen, and possibly the returning Carney Chukwuemeka, could step in, easing the heavy workload on our regular middlemen.

The Argentinean deployed an initially successful back three to match Brentford last time out but the hosts were the better side in the second half and he’s likely to revert to a back four this evening, especially with so many absentees.

Axel Disasi’s late equaliser against the Bees was our seventh headed league goal, the fourth from a set-play cross, and the fourth in as many matches scored inside the final 10 minutes.

Cole Palmer’s assist at Brentford meant he overtook Arjen Robben’s 16 (2004/05) goal involvements in league games for a Chelsea player aged 21 or under.

Chelsea have won seven, drawn three and lost only one of the 11 league games where we have scored first.

The next penalty converted by the Londoners in the Premier League will be our 150th since 1992/93.

Goal contributions in all competitions 2023/24

Opposition scout: Newcastle United

Matt Targett and Elliot Anderson may return to the Newcastle squad this evening but key men Joelinton, Nick Pope, Callum Wilson and captain Kieran Trippier remain sidelined. Lewis Hall is ineligible as he is on loan from Chelsea.

Another Cobham graduate, Tino Livramento, is the likely beneficiary of his skipper’s calf problem. The more attack-minded full-back came off the bench to net against Wolves last time out.

Nevertheless, Howe will be frustrated not to be able to name the same back four that contributed to a run of three wins and one loss in six games, restoring their pursuit of a European place.

Between the sticks, Martin Dubravka (70.7 per cent) has a marginally inferior saves-per-shot on target rate than the sidelined Pope (73.6).

The midfield three is likely to be the same as in the Carabao Cup semi-final at the Bridge, with Bruno Guimaraes in the middle, Lewis Miley to his left and Sean Longstaff on the right.

Up front Anthony Gordon had taken on Wilson’s central role with Harvey Barnes playing from the left, but leading marksman Alexander Isak is expected to lead the line tonight. Gordon has faced the Blues seven times, scoring in the past two league meetings.

Among regular opposition coaches only Pep Guardiola (56 per cent) and Kenny Dalglish (77 per cent) have a higher win ratio against the Blues than Howe’s 43 per cent.

The history

Chelsea have won 20 of the 28 Premier League meetings with Newcastle United on the Fulham Road, with seven draws.

The single defeat came in May 2012, when the Blues may have been distracted by the successful pursuit of major silverware at home and abroad. As a result, the Blues are unbeaten in 12 visits by the Magpies, 10 of which were home victories.

In last May’s 1-1 draw, on the final day of the season, both goals came before the break. Anthony Gordon grabbed an early lead before Kieran Trippier bundled a cross-shot into his own net (the full-back, who missed the crucial Carabao Cup quarter-final shootout penalty in December, also scored an own goal as part of Tottenham’s visiting team in 2019).

Half and half

Taken in isolation, Chelsea’s first-half performances in the league would merit eighth place in the table (fourth in away matches only).

However, the Blues’ second half scores are 18th best in the division (16th away, 18th at home).

Home and away, a +6 goal difference before the break (goals for 21, against 15) changes to -5 (23, 28) over the second period.

Chelsea ranking in each half

The race for a European place

Ironically for runners-up Chelsea, Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final victory assists those looking for European qualification through the Premier League, as the Reds will almost certainly enter the Champions League rather than the Europa Conference League which was their reward at Wembley.

Despite Newcastle and Manchester United finishing bottom of their Champions League groups, the Premier League could still be awarded a fifth place in Europe’s elite competition next season.

Six of the eight FA Cup quarter-finalists (Chelsea, Liverpool, the Manchester clubs, Newcastle and Wolves) could win the competition and claim the second Europa League place while also finishing in a merit position in the league, passing the qualification to the next highest-ranked.

All of which could bring seventh or even eighth place into play for those clubs chasing a UEFA place.