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The general consensus seems to be that the Premier League title race is going down to the final day.

Manchester United have already done the business this weekend and now it's down to Chelsea to see off Newcastle and the pressure is really on. If they lose the title race is over; a draw isn't much use either.

If the Chelsea players and officials are truly honest, I suspect they'd have picked virtually any other fixture than a trip to Newcastle for their must-win penultimate game.

Not only are Newcastle in their best form of the season - they are now unbeaten in seven - but Chelsea have a shockingly-bad record here.

The Blues' modern history can easily by divided into pre- and post-Roman Abramovich periods and in the latter they have remarkably yet to win at St James' Park in a league fixture (and have also lost there in an FA Cup tie).

In fact they have only won two out of a possible 15 points on Tyneside since the Russian oligarch took over at Stamford Bridge.

By Chelsea's standards, that's awful.

The Blues have won at Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool during this period, so not to have triumphed at St James' is something of a surprise.

Historical records are often under-estimated by punters - their argument goes how does what happened years ago effect the current day.

However, these records get bought up in press conferences, radio interviews and the players will know of their unhappy memories at the ground - just like they remember those impressive wins at Old Trafford and Anfield.

History shows there are plenty of odd head-to-heads down the years.

Two that have been broken in recent seasons include Everton breaking a 50-year winless run at Elland Road and Manchester City finally winning at Old Trafford after 34 years.

Having made at least some sort of case for a slip-up, we're still not hugely convinced about Kevin Keegan's men, whose recent victories have all come against sides in the bottom half.

When they did come up against a solid defensive outfit (such as the one they'll face here) they failed to break down Portsmouth.

However, they have kept things unusually tight at the back and four clean sheets in the last six games suggest progress is being made in that department. Another shut-out can be backed at 5/1 with Stan James and Betdirect.

While that's tempting, the 10/1 chalked up about a goalless draw - back no goalscorer and insure yourself against own goals - also looks a tad big and that's our headline selection.

Going back to our original point, there looks real potential for this to prove a banana skin for the visitors for whom the pressure is now sky high.

They can be oppsoed at 7/5 in the 'double chance' market. This gets a home win and the draw on our side and looks worth a small play.

If you disagree with our analysis, you may be tempted by Michael Owen's price to score at any time.

There's no doubt the England striker is back in form - he has six goals in the Magpies' seven-match unbeaten run - so William Hill's 11/4 about a finisher of his quality is unlikely to be seen too often, especially for a home fixture.

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