The international break has come at arguably the worst possible time for Chelsea and their manager Mauricio Pochettino.

The Blues are fresh off the back of four points from the last two games against title challenging Tottenham and Manchester City.

A number of players have stepped up as important in the recent big games, and will certainly have left an impression on the manager who has a couple of weeks to decide his next team.

Here is the Chelsea Chronicle’s predicted XI for the journey to Newcastle next time out.

GK and DefenceRobert Sanchez made a huge save to deny Erling Haaland against Manchester City on Sunday, and will continue between the sticks.

Reece James impressed greatly against the talented Jeremy Doku, and hopefully will be able to build his fitness up more to be able to complete 90 minutes.

After finding the net last time out, Thiago Silva has proven why he should continue to lead from the back against Newcastle.

He will be joined at the back by Benoit Badiashile, who will be making his first start for the club in the Premier League this season.

There will be no Levi Colwill again, as Marc Cucurella will continue on the left.

Midfield

Moises Caicedo had a bit of a tough time against City, although will for sure continue in the heart of midfield for the trip up north.

Enzo Fernandez’s rough international schedule will see him drop to the bench though, with youngster Lesley Ugochukwu filling in his place.

In front of those two, Conor Gallagher will look to build on his sensational start to the season.

Attack

The in-form man Cole Palmer will of course continue working off the right of the attack, after his man of the match display against his former side.

On the opposite flank, fellow former Citizen Raheem Sterling will look to show Gareth Southgate what he will be missing in the international break.

Up front, Nicolas Jackson will start again after scoring four goals in his last two games for the club.