Newcastle United Premier League change becomes official ahead of key Champions League battle
Newcastle United’s kick-off time and date for their Premier League match against Chelsea at St James’ Park has been confirmed.
The match could prove to be crucial in Newcastle and Chelsea’s battle for Champions League qualification. Newcastle currently sit five points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table with six games left to play but the picture could look slightly different when the sides meet in just over three weeks time.
Newcastle travel to Aston Villa on Saturday before facing Ipswich Town at St James’ Park and then a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion before they welcome Chelsea in their penultimate home match of the 2024-25 campaign.
Chelsea, meanwhile, face local rivals Fulham on Sunday before hosting Everton and then Liverpool ahead of the trip to St James’ Park. The Blues also have two Conference League semi-final matches against Swedish club Djurgårdens IF either side of the Liverpool match.
The second leg comes takes place at Stamford Bridge just days before the Newcastle match - hence the fixture change.
Newcastle United v Chelsea confirmation
Newcastle’s match against Chelsea will be televised on TNT Sports but at the time of the announcement, Chelsea’s place in the Conference League semi-final had not been confirmed.
So two kick-off times were proposed for each eventuality. An initial date of Saturday, May 10 at 12:30pm was scheduled, which was subject to change to Sunday, May 11 and 12pm should Chelsea progress to the UEFA Conference League semi-final.
And on Thursday evening, The Blues did just that by beating Legia Warsaw 4-2 on aggregate to progress to the final four. Chelsea looked likely to progress after winning the away fixture 3-0 but Legia put up a fight in London by claiming a 2-1 win on the night.
The result has confirmed Newcastle’s match against Chelsea will now take place on Sunday, May 11 with an early 12pm kick-off.
Newcastle United 2024-25 fixture schedule confirmed
Newcastle’s fixture schedule for the remainder of the season has been confirmed. Earlier this week, the match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium was selected for television broadcast next month.
Newcastle were initially set to face Arsenal at 3pm on Sunday, May 18 but the kick-off time has now been pushed back to 4:30pm after the match was selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports.
The Magpies will be eyeing a fourth win against Arsenal this season having beaten them 1-0 at St James’ Park earlier in the Premier League season as well as 2-0 home and away in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Newcastle United v Chelsea head to head
Newcastle beat a weakened Chelsea side 2-0 at St James’ Park en route to winning the Carabao Cup. Enzo Maresca’s side had beaten The Magpies 2-1 at Stamford Bridge just a few days earlier.
But Newcastle’s form at home to Chelsea in recent seasons has been strong. In three home matches against Chelsea under Howe, Newcastle have won all three with an aggregate score of seven goals to one.
In addition to the 2-0 cup win at St James’ Park back in October, Newcastle beat Chelsea 4-1 at home last season and 1-0 the season prior. Chelsea’s last win at Newcastle came early in the 2021-22 season with a 3-0 victory prior to Eddie Howe’s appointment.
Newcastle have already qualified for next season’s Conference League at least by winning the Carabao Cup but will be looking to improve on that with a return to Champions League football, which would be guaranteed with a top five finish.