Newcastle could play with ‘another player’ in Carabao Cup as Chelsea stadium appeal made

Newcastle United need St James’ Park back to its febrile best. Now more than ever. “We will play with another player,” captain Bruno Guimaraes predicted to NUFC TV ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Chelsea. “We are counting on our fans.”

That final point was significant. St James’, in truth, has not rocked of late. Boy do Newcastle need it to on Wednesday night to give these players a shot in the arm and to test the mettle of the youngest Premier League side in history.

This is a talented Chelsea outfit – Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix did not even get on the pitch when these teams met in the top-flight yesterday – but how would they handle a white-hot St James’? Enzo Maresca has witnessed that cauldron-like atmosphere first-hand. In fact, on the Chelsea boss’ last visit to St James’, the Italian was working as Pep Guardiola’s assistant on an afternoon Geordies roared Newcastle into a 3-1 lead against Manchester City little more than two years ago.

Manchester City may have recovered, to claim a point, but countless other sides have been unable to do so after going behind. PSG, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all tasted defeat on Tyneside last season while Newcastle’s home form was crucial to the Magpies’ run to the Carabao Cup final in 2023. Newcastle have ultimately suffered just 11 defeats at St James’ since Howe took charge of a team in deep relegation trouble nearly three years ago.

However, it is worth noting that Newcastle lost their last home game, against Brighton, which illustrated the black-and-whites’ crippling issues in front of goal. Following their best opening of the season, Newcastle failed to make that dominance count and Howe’s team ultimately lost the game despite there being so much time left after Danny Welbeck put the visitors in front in the 35th minute.

Newcastle, who traditionally race out of the blocks at their best, have yet to score in the opening half-an-hour of any of their home games so far this season. Dig a little deeper and the Magpies have found the back of the net on just one occasion on the road in the opening half-an-hour in the opening months of the campaign. In contrast, in the first 11 games in all competitions last season, Howe’s side had scored six goals in the opening 30 minutes.

This time around, however, when it comes to attacking metrics like goals, shots, big chances, shot conversion and high turnovers, Newcastle are down in a host of areas. The black-and-whites have scored just once from open play in their last five fixtures.

How Newcastle need to find their finishing boots – and fast – and this already feels like a potentially season-defining game against Chelsea. Win and Newcastle are into the quarter-finals of a wide-open competition that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has even admitted he is ‘not going to waste energy on’ and progress in the cup is just the fillip that is desperately needed after the Magpies slipped to 12th place in the league.

Most importantly, a victory would keep Newcastle’s dream of ending 55 years of hurt alive. After all, by the time the quarter-finals roll around, a week before Christmas, the picture could look a little different with Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson among those working their way back to fitness.

There may be seven months of the campaign left to go, but progressing on Wednesday night feels crucial. The dressing room have not just vaguely talked about doing something special; they have been more bullish than that. It was just last week that Anthony Gordon said ‘we need to win a trophy’ while Dan Burn has previously admitted ‘we’ve got to win something’. Ending that long wait for silverware ‘burns’ inside Howe.

“We have to have a perception of achievement, of growing as a football club, to keep not just the so-called big names happy but everyone happy and going in a forward direction,” the Newcastle boss told reporters. “I’ve seen it very quickly go the other way so I think myself and everyone connected to the club have a big job to try and keep that momentum positive and keep the dreams really big.

“It’s absolutely crucial that we continue to do that. Now we have to act on the pitch as well. You can’t just talk about it – you have to deliver on the pitch.”