Chelsea predicted lineup vs Newcastle - Premier League

Table-topping Chelsea travel to 19th-placed Newcastle United for a Premier League clash between sides enduring dramatically different starts to the campaign.

However, Anfield, Etihad Stadium, Old Trafford and any other Premier League ground south of Tyneside all represent more successful destinations for Chelsea than St James Park in recent years. The Blues have lost five of their last eight trips to the famous old stadium, their worst record against any top flight team away from home in the same time period.

Nevertheless, here's the XI Thomas Tuchel may call upon for his first ever meeting with the Magpies.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Newcastle - Premier League

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Edouard Mendy (GK) - Some statistics fall at the first hurdle of the simple eye test, but Mendy's numerical status as the Premier League's best shot-stopper (per Opta) certainly holds up to scrutiny.

Cesar Azpilicueta (CB) - When quizzed on his captain's fitness after he sustained an injury in training, Tuchel wasn't in any doubt: "He fell on his shoulder and it is very painful but it is Azpi and he is a tough guy."

Thiago Silva (CB) - Tuchel's defensive lynchpin in consecutive Champions League finals, with two different clubs, was given a rest in midweek, perhaps with the trip north in mind.

Antonio Rudiger (CB) - As 90min exclusively revealed, Rudiger could be one of a trio of defenders Chelsea fail to lure into a new contract - yet has been scarcely overlooked in the final season before his existing deal expires this summer.

2. Wingbacks & midfielders

Reece James (RWB) - The hero of Chelsea's penalty shootout triumph over Southampton - already their third spot kick showdown this season - could be tasked with replicating that coolness from open play in the league.

Mateo Kovacic (CM) - The only Chelsea player to feature in every Premier League game this term has already racked up five assists in the competition, his highest tally in an entire league campaign since he created seven goals as a 17-year-old for Dinamo Zagreb in 2011/12.

Jorginho (CM) - A trip to the penultimate team in the Premier League table gives Jorginho and his teammates the perfect opportunity to heed the Italian's insistence that they 'stay humble and be hungry'.

Ben Chilwell (LWB) - In October alone, Chilwell has matched his career-high season league goal tally of three with a blistering run of form that has him ranked as Chelsea's joint-top Premier League scorer so far (yes, really).

3. Forwards

Mason Mount (RF) - Within the space of 90 minutes against Norwich, Mason Mount not only scored his first goals of the campaign but, alongside the aforementioned Chilwell (and Romelu Lukaku), propelled himself to the top of Chelsea's Premier League scoring charts this term.

Kai Havertz (ST) - In the continuing absence of Lukaku and TImo Werner, Havertz is set for another run through the middle despite his struggles to thrive, even in emphatic victories.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (LF) - By scoring the second of Chelsea's Canary massacre last weekend, Hudson-Odoi - staggeringly - became the 17th different Chelsea player to find the net across all competitions this term - Newcastle, by comparison, can only call upon six unique scorers.