No away blues for Chelsea as they visit Newcastle
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LONDON • Chelsea have won seven of their last 10 Premier League away games, with only leaders Liverpool (28) having won more points on the road than the Blues this season (22).
They have also secured five more league points on their travels than at Stamford Bridge this term and, with 25 away goals plundered, they have already passed last season's total of 24.
So Frank Lampard's men travel to St James' Park today full of confidence, knowing a win against Newcastle will consolidate fourth place.
The Magpies have lost their two home league matches and, with injuries mounting, Steve Bruce is hoping owner Mike Ashley will loosen the purse strings and dip into this month's transfer market.
At his pre-match press conference yesterday, the Newcastle manager confirmed the unavailability of DeAndre Yedlin, Dwight Gayle, Paul Dummett, Javier Manquillo, Yoshinori Muto, Jack Colback and Ki Sung-yueng, while Andy Carroll is a doubt.
He added: "We have been down to the bones. We had 12 or 13 injured out of a squad of 25 and... the squad have three goalkeepers.
"We've got one or two plates spinning, and we hope we can add to the squad by the end of the month.
"Obviously, when going for big players, there's a bit of competition down the line somewhere. We hope we can pull them off. We're trying everything we possibly can."
Like Newcastle, Chelsea have yet to add to their squad despite their transfer ban being lifted, and while big names like Jadon Sancho and Timo Werner have been the subject of rumours, there has been no concrete bid put in for players.
Instead, the Blues have been focused on tying down their young players, with 20-year-old defender Reece James penning a new five-year deal until 2025 on Thursday.
He is the latest to commit his future to Chelsea, following in the footsteps of fellow academy products Fikayo Tomori, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount.
Still, Gus Poyet would like his former club to bring in "a very special player" this month to avoid "going backwards".
"Everything is all very good at the moment, but this is Chelsea," he told the BBC. "You need something to help you get better because something is still missing there."
NEWCASTLE V CHELSEA
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