Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea: 5 talking points as the Blues cruised to a victory | Premier League 2020-21

Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League

#3. Newcastle's poor response

Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League

Newcastle United had a poor performance against Southampton just before the international break. The Magpies were expected to respond positively against Chelsea, considering most of the Blues players were out on international duty and the hosts had two weeks to work on a gameplan.

The hosts simply stood off as the visitors took complete control of the game. It seemed that the Magpies' game plan was to just sit compact and try to hit a late sucker punch similar to the one in the corresponding fixture last season.

The hosts were easy to carve open for the Blues and were lucky to only concede two goals. Steve Bruce will be disappointed by this performance and he will hope to get a better response from his side next week against Crystal Palace, otherwise they risk getting pulled into the relegation battle already.

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#2. Chelsea's defensive improvement

Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League

Chelsea spent a lot of money in the summer to improve their squad. The likes of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, and Kai Havertz were brought to add goals and creativity to the side. They have been impressive as the Blues are the highest scoring team in the league.

However, there were questions mark over their quality in defense. Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, and Edouard Mendy were brought to shore up the back. Chilwell started the season out due to injury and Mendy was signed late in the window, but since they have come into the side along with Thiago Silva, and with N'Golo Kanté moving back into the holding role, the Blues have been mightily impressive in defense.

The win against Newcastle was their sixth clean sheet in the last seven matches which shows how far they have come since last season. The Blues faithful must have been worried how their defense will hold up this evening as Silva was absent, however, Antonio Rüdiger was solid in his first start in the Premier League this season.

Frank Lampard will hope his side continues to build on this new found defensive solidarity as the season progresses.

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#1. Chelsea looking like contenders

Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League

Chelsea's win against Newcastle sees them go top of the table at least for few hours. The Blues are now unbeaten for 7 games and are also the top-scoring side in the League.

This was expected to be a tricky test for Frank Lampard's side after the international break, they lost the corresponding fixture last season. However, the Blues took absolute control of the game from the start even though they never seemed to get out of second gear.

The next few weeks will be the true test of the Blues' title credentials. Frank Lampard obviously downplayed talk of any title challenge after the match, however, if his side can continue their impressive run through the next few weeks, then Chelsea will surely be one of the sides pushing for the Premier League title.

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Edited by S Chowdhury