Newcastle 2 Chelsea 0: tactical analysis

Newcastle United took a big step towards adding Champions League qualification to their EFL Cup victory this season, with a win against top-five rivals Chelsea. Both teams began the game on 63 points, but with two games now remaining – and contenders Manchester City and Nottingham Forest dropping points – Newcastle have moved up to third. Chelsea are in fifth for now, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference.

The home side flew out of the blocks at St James’ Park, courtesy of a goal from Sandro Tonali after 112 seconds. Nicolas Jackson’s 36th-minute red card looked to have tipped the scales further in Newcastle’s favour. But it wasn’t until the 90th minute that Bruno Guimarães made sure of the win, after Chelsea put in an impressive second-half display despite having only 10 players.

How the managers saw it

“The first half we were really, really good,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe. “The sending-off changed the game, and with the scoreline as it was, it was a tricky second half for us mentally because we wanted to go and attack… Chelsea changed things and made it difficult for us tactically, so congratulations to them. But we hung in there, and I think did really well there mentally in the second half.”

“We are not happy with the defeat, but the energy, the spirit and the togetherness of the team in the second half has been fantastic,” said Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca. “Second half, we adjusted some things and it went quite well. We even looked like we had more players than them.”

Howe’s change of shape

Newcastle United utilised a 3-4-3 shape, with Dan Burn at left centre-back positioned wider as part of a back three. Tino Livramento could then move higher on the left to combine much closer to Anthony Gordon – either with passes along the touchline, or by moving inside to support as Gordon maintained the width. On the right, Jacob Murphy played as a wing-back, moving higher to create attacking width. Harvey Barnes, meanwhile, moved inside to work between the central-midfield pair of Tonali and Guimarães, and centre-forward Alexander Isak (below). 

Burn stepping in – around Chelsea’s first line of Cole Palmer and Jackson – created more combinations on Newcastle’s left, with a fluid Gordon and Livramento. Isak supported these left-side combinations (below), creating chances or drawing Chelsea over, to switch to the more isolated Barnes and Murphy on the right. Despite the imbalance towards numbers on their left, both wide areas were important for Newcastle’s attacks in the first half.

Newcastle’s aggressive pressing

Eddie Howe’s shift to a back three helped Newcastle to aggressively press Chelsea’s build. This shape also helped them to deal with Chelsea’s in-possession conversion to a 3-2-4-1, where Moisés Caicedo moved into midfield from right-back. Newcastle’s front three pressed on to Chelsea’s back three, with Isak typically applying pressure on goalkeeper Robert Sánchez while also cutting off the pass to whichever Chelsea defender was temporarily vacant. Tonali and Guimarães then waited for Caicedo to move into midfield, then jumped on to Chelsea’s double pivot (below).

Newcastle’s very aggressive wide centre-backs also supported the press, closing down Chelsea‘s two number 10s, Palmer and Enzo Fernández (below). With this pressure on the midfield unit, Newcastle limited Chelsea’s attempted progressions through the middle.

With regular pressure on Chelsea’s back line and their midfield tightly marked, Maresca’s team soon attempted to play over the press. That meant looking for a dropping Jackson, with an occasional ball into their wingers moving beyond, Newcastle centre-back Sven Botman was superb in his battle against the Chelsea centre-forward, though. In addition, whichever Newcastle wide centre-back was furthest from the ball would leave their number 10 opponent and move across to deal with central passes. In doing so, Newcastle doubled up on Jackson, which allowed Botman to cover behind. Wing-backs Livramento and Murphy were then often the deepest Newcastle defenders, protecting either side of this very aggressive central jump (below).

After Jackson’s red card

After Jackson’s dismissal, Chelsea maintained most of their previous attacking shape. Indeed, they dominated the ball for a period after half-time. Reece James replaced Noni Madueke, with Marc Cucurella providing the attacking width on the left as they continued to build with a converted back three. Caicedo and Lavia formed a more permanent double pivot – underneath Palmer and Fernández as the 10s – working the ball well around Newcastle’s central jump. Chelsea’s left side in particular probed and created attacking moments, targeting Murphy – especially when Fabian Schär committed to press into midfield, isolating his right wing-back (below). 

Howe responded by adding Emil Krafth at right-back after 65 minutes, moving Murphy to a more familiar winger role. With Lewis Miley replacing Botman, Newcastle reverted back to their usual 4-3-3 structure. One of their central-midfield three moved out to the left, supporting but also covering Livramento’s advances (below). From here, the home side managed to flip the momentum, overloading in midfield to help progress the ball. With numbers on their left they could attack on that side, or switch for Murphy to attack 1v1, with Krafth on the right advancing much less than Livramento.

Maresca responded by adding Jadon Sancho to Chelsea’s left, but Newcastle duly sealed the points with Guimarães’ deflected effort. Howe’s side will now aim to cement Champions League qualification in their next game – a trip to second-placed Arsenal – before finishing at home to Everton. Next for Chelsea is a must-win home game against struggling Manchester United, followed by a visit to Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest.

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