Fourth in the Premier League table hosts fifth on Sunday lunchtime when Newcastle United welcome Chelsea to St James' Park, bidding to move three points clear of their visitors in the battle to make next season's Champions League.
Eddie Howe's men have won their last five top-flight contests on Tyneside, scoring at least three goals in four of those five triumphs and enter this weekend's tussle having kept clean sheets in victories over FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace and relegated Ipswich Town.
Their opponents in this Champions League six-pointer bid to secure back-to-back away wins for the first time since December to continue a winning run that has seen Enzo Maresca's troops claim three victories on the trot domestically and five in all competitions.
The Blues already lost to the Magpies this season in the fourth round of the EFL Cup in late October, a defeat that followed the London club's league triumph at Stamford Bridge.
Defeat for either side could mean the loser slips out of the coveted Champions League positions, adding to the jeopardy heading into Sunday's encounter.
Here, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between Newcastle United and Chelsea ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 178
Chelsea wins: 81
Draws: 40
Newcastle wins: 57
Often a keenly-anticipated battle and one that first took place all the way back in 1907, there have now been 178 competitive showdowns between Chelsea and Newcastle, and the Blues trump their northern counterparts in the victories column.
Indeed, the West London giants have managed 81 triumphs against the Magpies, who in turn boast a respectable 57 victories of their own, and another 40 matches have seen the two managers shake hands on a point each.
The Blues' most recent victory in this fixture came as recently as October 2024, where Cole Palmer - who else - came up with the decisive moment in a 2-1 Stamford Bridge success.
However, Newcastle avenged that loss a matter of days later, defeating Enzo Maresca's team 2-0 to reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals on a disastrous evening for Axel Disasi.
It was honours even in the 2023-24 Premier League season between these two sides, as after Newcastle destroyed Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea in a 4-1 St James' Park slaughter, the Blues gained vengeance with a 3-2 success at Stamford Bridge.
In between those two five-goal thrillers, Newcastle were on the verge of knocking Chelsea out of the 2023-24 EFL Cup in the quarter-finals, only for Mykhaylo Mudryk to equalise in added time and Djordje Petrovic to make himself the hero in the penalty shootout.
That League Cup success actually ended a three-game winless run for the Blues against the Magpies, who left Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw in May 2023, but not since the 2011-12 season have Chelsea lost a Premier League home game to Newcastle.
On that day, Papiss Cisse scored one of the most outrageous goals that the Premier League will ever see - an unbelievable outside-of-the-foot volley that flew over Petr Cech into the far side of the net - one that even forced a bewildered smile from an astonished Didier Drogba.
However, Chelsea came out on top in one of the biggest meetings between the sides to date, the 1999-2000 FA Cup semi-final, where Gus Poyet's double propelled the Blues to victory before they conquered Aston Villa in the final.
Historical figures boast the best individual scoring records in this battle, as Jackie Millburn scored 12 for Newcastle against Chelsea, while Ron Tindall and Jimmy Greaves managed 11 and 10 respectively for the Blues.
Last 20 meetings
Oct 30, 2024: Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea (EFL Cup Last 16)
Oct 27, 2024: Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Mar 11, 2024: Chelsea 3-2 Newcastle (Premier League)
Dec 19, 2023: Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (EFL Cup Quarter-Finals)
Nov 25, 2023: Newcastle 4-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
May 28, 2023: Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Nov 12, 2022: Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Mar 13, 2022: Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Oct 30, 2021: Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea (Premier League)
Feb 15, 2021: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Nov 21, 2020: Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea (Premier League)
Jan 18, 2020: Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Oct 19, 2019: Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Jan 12, 2019: Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Aug 26, 2018: Newcastle 1-2 Chelsea (Premier League)
May 13, 2018: Newcastle 3-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Jan 28, 2018: Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle (FA Cup Fourth Round)
Dec 02, 2017: Chelsea 3-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Feb 13, 2016: Chelsea 5-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Sep 26, 2015: Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea (Premier League) body check tags ::
