Chelsea vs. Newcastle United, Premier League: Confirmed line-ups

It’s gameday! Today’s early kick-off sees Rafa Benitez return to Stamford Bridge after his much-maligned spell as interim manager back in the 2012/13 season, with our Overlord Pasztor also in attendance.

So if we lose, you know who to blame.

Chelsea starting line-up (3-5-2): Courtois | Azpilicueta (c), Christensen, Rudiger | Moses, Kante, Drinkwater, Fabregas, Alonso | Hazard, Morata

Substitutes from: Caballero, Batshuayi, Cahill, Bakayoko, Willian, Pedro, Zappacosta

Newcastle starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Darlow | Manquillo, Lejeune, Clark (c), Mbemba | Diame, Merino | Ritchie, Perez, Murphy | Gayle

Substitutes from: Elliot, Shelvey, Hayden, Aarons, Joselu, Yedlin, Mitrovic

Date / Time: Saturday, December 2, 12:30 GMT; 7:30am EST; 6pm IST

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Kevin Friend — back for his 20th Chelsea game, we last saw Mr. Friend in the 1-1 away draw against Burnley last season.

Forecast: Cold; light showers possible

On TV: Sky Sports Premier League (UK); NBCSN, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); elsewhere

Streaming online: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live Extra, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India)

Azpiliceuta comes back into the XI after a well-deserved rest last time out. Danny Drinkwater is rotated in, Antonio Rudiger keeps his starting place after an excellent outing against Swansea, Victor Moses slots back in at right wing-back after his somewhat lengthy injury lay-off and Eden Hazard starts up front with Alvaro Morata. There’s a return to the bench for Michy Batshuayi as well.

The last time Chelsea played Newcastle at the Bridge, we smashed them 5-1 with Bertrand Traore scoring the fifth! Let’s have a repeat, today.