TRon

If everyone can get past their despair at his diving or whatever, he did actually cause Chelsea some real headaches in the first half. Looked very lively, and got them panicking a fair bit during that time.

I think the club will put a goalkeeper and striker ahead of CM, unless the RW can also double as a striker.

Isak is normally the one who takes them apart, and that's my only doubt about this game. Is he fit enough to turn their defenders inside out like he usually does? Otherwise the three at the back formation should be good to get a point from this at least.

He was everywhere. Fantastic performance along with Bruno when we needed it most.

Just said in the Barnes thread that I was surprised Gordon was the one substituted. He was giving them some real headaches with his direct running and pace.

His lack of pace meant we didn't really have much option on the counter on his side. I thought Gordon should have stayed on instead for the second half tbh, he looked lively.

The Leazes is too quiet. A few fans do their best, but there isn't enough take up of the songs to really get the place bouncing.

Probably not, but I think most people would still rather he started the last two matches ahead of Wilson or Osula unless he's completely knackered.

Even if Willock was fit I was pleased when I found out we were going to a back 3 again. It just felt like the right fit for the players we had available. What did surprise me was how dominant we were even in that formation, I would have expected us to be a bit more circumspect, but we got after them like sharks sniffing blood.

Probably already the best season in my lifetime, but CL will confirm it.

Yep. this game was a bit too much for him, he didn't play much of a role in keeping Chelsea at bay when they were pushing up in the second half. Lovely player when he gets time, but today wasn't that sort of game.

They'll want to, but not sure they can make it happen. The three at the back which we used to beat them in the cup semi final might be a good shout.

Forest fucked.

Great result considering the players we had missing. Felt like we had the 10 men in the second half but maybe that looked different on TV. I'll have to watch the game back, we did defend well for the most part so the game plan worked and that's all that matters.

This is why all you can do is win your own games. It's still in our hands, just means we have no margin for error now.

Chelsea's midfield are apparently functioning a lot better since Lavia has come back in. Add to that we will have a vital cog missing in Joelinton. This is the problem with writing off clubs with Chelsea's resources, they have a far deeper squad than us. Yes we are at home, yes we can win. But let's not pretend this is like playing Fulham or Wolves at home. This is a big game between two very big teams, nothing can be taken for granted.

If Big Joe's playing I hope we'll be blasting out We will Rock you before the game. Ge them shitting their kegs right before kick off.

You'd like to think it's a big enough game that there wouldn't be any need for beer to loosen the vocals.

Free money basically. Great deal for us.

I think fringe players like Willock always have a price, if we get a half decent fee we would sell. That money would then go towards buying someone next level I would imagine. Hopefully if he's playing the last few games he'll put in the performances to show his real value.

Because stats don't mean that much when key players are missing. I'll bet all those games you are citing we had Joelinton playing. Of course a draw is very likely. A win is also likely but when two top teams go head to head it doesn't necessarily mean a win is guaranteed for Newcastle when one of our key players is out.

Same here.

That's how I see it. A draw is a very likely outcome on Sunday no matter how much I would prefer to win it. But if we don't win I won't be assuming it's game over and assuming we are out of the running for CL football. Villa still have points to make up on us, and we only have to finish ahead of either them or Forest even if Chelsea finish higher.

They are obviously regretting the decision to pay £20m, but I guess it's just about whether they are locked in or not. If we drew the contract up right, they won't be able to wiggle out of it.

Not sure it's what the Howe system demands, which is what @buzza is getting at. Not that Howe doesn't like technique, but it would need to be allied with some physicality and bite. Not seen much of McAtee so no idea if he fits the bill.