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Premiership Betting: Newcastle can end Chelsea's Premiership challenge today

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Mystical" Mike Norman looks into his crystal ball and sees Chelsea being deprived by an in-form Newcastle of the three points they need to keep their Premiership challenge alive

Manchester United have done their bit, now it's Chelsea's turn to ensure that the Premiership title race goes down to the very last Sunday of the season.

A win is vital at St. James Park this afternoon if Chelsea are to keep the heat on United at the top of the table, but even the most optimistic of Blues fans must fear that they will be stitched up at the weekend. That's because Manchester United travel to Steve Bruce's Wigan. Bruce, let me remind you, is a self confessed lover of United having played and captained them for many years, he is great friends with Sir Alex Ferguson, and more importantly, Wigan have nothing to play for after securing their Premiership status last Saturday.

You might think this is controversial, but if Chelsea take all three points today, then I don't think there is a cat in hell's chance of Wigan doing Avram Grant's side a favour on Sunday. I'm not questioning the integrity of the game at all, but there is a way that a team can take its foot of the gas if they really want to. Take Liverpool as a perfect example. They lost to Portsmouth, lost to Fulham, and drew with relegated Charlton last season prior to their vital Champions League semi-final and final - there were a few murmurs, but nothing was really said.

If Chelsea do beat Newcastle today then hopefully some of you would like to pass comment on the situation, but I promise you, it will be one of the main topics you will be listening to when you switch onto Sky Sports News towards the end of the week.

Manchester United are [1.17] to retain their title, while Chelsea can be backed at [6.6] to regain it.

As far as this evening's game goes, Chelsea are strong favourites to take the points at [1.6], with the draw being on offer at [4.4] and a Newcastle home victory at [6.6].

Six weeks ago, Newcastle would have been at long odds to beat Chelsea such was the way they were playing at the time, but a recent upturn in form (unbeaten in seven) will have the Geordie faithful believing they can take something from today's game and give them much hope for next season.

A strong pointer towards a good showing today from Keegan's men is the fact that Newcastle haven't lost at home to Chelsea in the Premiership for the last five seasons, recording three victories and two draws. All those games have been tight however and I would expect it to be the same today, so backing 'Newcastle +0.5 & +1.0' on the Asian Handicap at odds of [2.26] would be my recommendation.

Like Newcastle, Chelsea are also on an unbeaten run of seven games, while their unbeaten Premiership run stretches to 19. But as against Middlesbrough and as against Wigan of late, they are capable of putting in some poor performances. It's always difficult predicting the outcome of an end of season game, especially when one side has nothing to play for, but if there is one team in the Premiership that I don't think will rest on their laurels, then I'd have to say it's Newcastle. King Kev seems to have turned things around there and he will be determined to keep the momentum going right to the end.

For the above reasons, I wouldn't be averse to backing Newcastle outright at [6.6] whilst also going for a 1-0 ([17]) or even a 2-0 ([46]) scoreline in the 'Correct Score' market. These scorelines, even if they were to Chelsea, should draw your attention to 'Under 2.5 Goals' at [1.88] - 'Over 2.5 Goals' can be backed at [2.12].

Both teams are virtually at full strength, though Newcastle have a few players returning from injury (including Mark Viduka and James Milner) so they might have to settle for a place on the bench. Incidentally, Viduka is [13.0] to score the first goal with Michael Owen available at [8.8] - from Chelsea, Drogba ([6.0]) and Lampard ([7.8]) are most likely to net first.

Chelsea have a star-studded squad and can beat anyone on most days, but I have a hunch that Newcastle won't be denied today. In the 'Half-Time/Full-Time' market you can back 'Newcastle/Newcastle' at [13.5] or 'Draw/Newcastle' at [15], which will give you far more fun than backing 'Chelsea/Chelsea' at [2.58] - after all, we don't want that silly debate about what Wigan will do on Sunday to rumble on....... do we?