Last time they met

You have to go back almost 76 hours to find the last time these two sides faced off.

That Premier League outing finished in a 2-1 Chelsea win, with Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer scoring either side of Alexander Isak’s equaliser.

The Blues led every stat available on the day and Newcastle lacked any sort of clinical edge up top.

Six Chelsea yellow cards were handed out on Sunday. Will tonight be as feisty…

Pre-match wander

The Chelsea players were out a short time ago, having a look at the surface ahead of their warm-ups in a short while.

Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix – both eyeing a start – were at the forefront of that.

Changes?

Speaking of team news, Enzo Maresca was quizzed on the changes he could make ahead of this one.

He’s previously made as many as 11 changes in cup games previously and was asked if he’d have concerns doing that here given the opposition.

He said: “I’m always worried. I’m always concerned about the other team. This one will be the same.

“We just played two days ago and we know how good they are. Away, they are probably even more because of the environment.

“We can defend better, we can attack better, we can manage the games better. The last 20 minutes against Newcastle, we didn’t manage in the right way. This is also a learning process for these kind of things.

“We need to learn how to play different kind of games, teams with high pressing, teams that sit back. This is the reason why I said we are still far from those clubs.”

He’s here..

Having missed Sunday’s defeat in the capital, Anthony Gordon has arrived with his fancy wash bag ahead of this one.

The winger was a huge miss in the Toon front line and having sat that one out, he comes into this one fresh.

Does Eddie Howe throw him straight in? We’ve not long to wait to find out…

Newcastle vs Chelsea

For the second time in a few days, Chelsea take on Newcastle in a huge clash – only this time it’s for a spot in a cup quarter final.

The pair met at Stamford Bridge in the league on Sunday but a Carabao Cup quarter final is at stake this time around.

And it’s a different venue too, with the Toon gaining that home advantage this time around.

It’s a big test for Eddie Howe and co, with the supporters at St James’ craving some silverware.