We bring to your attention the announcement of the match of the third round of the English Premier League between Newcastle and Chelsea.

Newcastle - Chelsea August 26, 18:00, St. James Park, Newcastle. The arbitrator of the meeting is Paul Tyrley.

Live on Football 2 channel.

Wards Maurizio Sarri demonstrate an excellent attacking football, which, of course, please their fans. But there is one serious problem - Chelsea is very insecure in the defense, and this is very worrying. As the match against Arsenal showed, a few quick transfers can leave pressure players with nothing, and the opponent is ready to take advantage of free space.

Now to the positive moments: Eden Azar is gradually gaining shape, and is ready to come out against Newcastle. Maurizio Sarri at a press conference noted that the Belgian can hold on the field of about 60 minutes. The debut in the starting lineup for Mateo Kovacic is likely to be postponed.

If you take the statistics, for the last five matches at St. James Park, Newcastle has never lost to Chelsea. Moreover, the "magpies" only played a draw once, while in the remaining matches they scored three points.

Note that the participation in the match will not take Kennedy. The rights to the midfielder belong to the "blue", and in view of this he will not be able to play in a duel.

Approximate compositions:.

Newcastle: Dubravka - Jedlin, Lassels, Clark, Dammett-Richie, Diame, Shelvey, Murphy-Perez, Hocela.

Chelsea: Kepa - Aspilicueta, Rudiger, Luis, Alonso - Kante, Jorginho, Barkley - Pedro, Morata, Azar.

Injured: Lejeune, Hayden - Fabregas.

In doubt: Jedlin, Manquillo - ... Will not play: Kenedi (the contract belongs to Chelsea).

Interesting Facts:.

Chelsea for the first time since the 2016/17 season can win 3 consecutive victories in the Premier League starts.

Chelsea have won 6 of the last 8 Premier League matches.

"Blue" won 4 of the last 5 away matches of the Premier League, losing only in the away match Newcastle in the last round of the last championship (0: 3).

Maurizio Sarri could become the 5th coach of Chelsea, who won 3 Premier League starts.

Rafael Benitez can win the 50th victory in the 107th match as head coach of Newcastle.

"Magpies" won one of the last seven Premier League games (in Chelsea in May).

Cesar Aspilicueta can host the 200th match in the Premier League. In his last 102 games Aspi was in the starting lineup 101 times. He missed the match with Swansea in November last year.

The trainers say:.

Rafael Benitez (Newcastle):.

"I sympathize with our fans. They know this city, like his club. But I would like them not to forget to support us during the match, when they will be at the stadium next to the team ".

Maurizio Sarry (Chelsea):.

"I'm not concerned about the defensive phase of the game.

When I head a new team, I usually have problems with the defensive phase for two to three months. Therefore, I think, for me it is normal ".

"Did I think about reorganizing into a game of five defenders?" No, I can not play with five defenders, because we are trying to defend ourselves, trying to control the ball. Thus, if I defend with five defenders, I immediately lose control of a large area of ??the field. So I can not play like this. Five years ago I tried, but it's not my way ".

forecast 1: 2.