Cisse may upstage Ba as he makes first Newcastle return with Chelsea

Things may be about to look up for Newcastle after a productive transfer window and a first away Premier League away win of the season, but the visit of Chelsea to St James’ Park is not a fixture that usually ends well.

Newcastle are winless in their last six at home to Chelsea, while they have lost on four occasions and failed to score in five.

In fact, punters have to look back to the days of Alan Shearer to locate the last occasion in which Newcastle scored more than once at St James’ Park against Chelsea.

It is 2/5 that Newcastle score less than two goals this time and historically this looks a decent price.

But it may pay to take the 7/4 that Newcastle do score at least twice this time, especially if Ross Turnbull is in goal for Chelsea.

Turnbull has kept just two clean sheets in 19 appearances for the Blues and recently allowed both Brentford and Reading to score twice past him. In total, Chelsea have let in two or more in four of their last six in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Newcastle looked far more of an attacking threat against Aston Villa and a midfield combination of Moussa Sissoko and Yohan Cabaye should be capable of providing the kind of service that Papiss Cisse can thrive off.

Alternatively, it is 4/6 that the total goals in the game are three or more.

Punters will remember Cisse’s two goals at Stamford Bridge last season and 2/1 is a fair price that he is on target at any time in the 90 minutes.

However, it is obvious that all eyes will be on his former striker partner Demba Ba on a first return to St James’ Park since his recent departure for Chelsea.

He has scored seven Premier League goals in his 10 games at the ground this season and can be backed at 6/5 to score at any time here.

In terms of match betting, Chelsea are odds-on for victory at 10/11, the draw is 5/2 and Newcastle are 3/1 in what may be the best value of these prices.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date