Newcastle United are set to face Chelsea later today to close out this week’s Premier League slate of matches. Both clubs are coming off wins in their last match, but Newcastle are in a much more precarious position than the Blues.
With the Magpies slowly slipping towards the final relegation spot, the betting odds think it will be a tall task for Steve Bruce’s side to come away with three points today.
According to Action Network, Newcastle United are major underdogs at Stamford Bridge today. The odds for Newcastle United to come away with a win are +1050, -435 for a Chelsea victory, and +550 for a draw.
For comparison, 20th-place Sheffield United are only a +410 underdog when go on the road to face face West Ham United, who sit in 6th. West Brom also had better odds when they hosted Manchester United over the weekend.
Those odds show how little Newcastle are trusted to get results, especially without Callum Wilson. The injured striker also plays into the Action Network’s best bet of the match.
Kieran Darcy’s pick for the match is the under on a goal total of 2.5. The under is listed at +132 with the over at -165. He believes this is the pick due to there being no Wilson for Newcastle, which will hurt their goalscoring and likely force them to play even more defensive. He also added that Chelsea have not been a goalscoring machine under Thomas Tuchel.
Surprisingly, Newcastle’s goal totals have exceeded 2.5 goals in five of their last eight matches, but those included Wilson and a more attacking playing style recently. This one seems likely to end up in a low-scoring victory for Chelsea.