Chelsea v Newcastle: Top Six Nigerians To Have Played In This Fixture

Nigeria-eligible defender Fikayo Tomori is set to earn his sixth Premier League appearance for Chelsea when they welcome Newcastle to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Below, we will briefly look at the most prominent Nigerians to have featured in this fixture, most of who went on to play for the Super Eagles.

Victor Moses: Moses's first appearance versus Newcastle in this fixture came in a 3-1 victory for Chelsea in a Premier League game in 2017.

Moses was very outstanding in the game, and even played his part with an assist, setting up Alvaro Morata for his side's second goal before winning a penalty for Eden Hazard to tuck away after the Nigerian was fouled by Matt Richie in the area.

Things didn't go to plan, however when he faced them again in 2018, as a double from Ayoze Perez and another effort from Dwight Gayle consigned them to a 3-0 defeat.

Shola Ameobi: Shola came through the youth ranks at Newcastle United, spending 14 years at the club while making 397 official appearances and scoring 79 goals.

He actually earned his first team debut on 9th September 2000, in a home fixture against the Blues and will go on to become a very influential player at the club.

Though his injury-time heroics over Chelsea in a 4-3 Carling Cup game in 2010 is still fresh in memory, he is mostly remembered in this fixture by the Magpies fans for orchestrating a stunning comeback 2-1 win in a league game in 2004.

Sammy Ameobi: Coincidentally, Shola's younger brother, Sammy also made his professional team bow for Newcastle in 2011 in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea, coming off the bench to play alongside his brother.

He will go on to earn more appearances against Chelsea but wasn't lucky to taste victory in any.

Obafemi Martins: Martins and his United teammates were made to rue their plethora of missed chances in a 1-0 league loss to Chelsea at the Bridge in 2006, no thanks to Didier Drogba's late effort off the bench.

Antoine Sibierski struck the bar from a James Milner corner while Guissipe Rossi shot wide from a glaring opportunity in the encounter as Martins and a certain Celestine Babayaro who was playing against his former team fell to the defeat.

Both teams nullified themselves in the return fixture, drawing 0-0.

John Obi Mikel: The most decorated player on this list, Obi held sway in midfield for Chelsea in that return fixture, coming off the bench after just 18 minutes to replace Michael Ballack.

The Chelsea legend will go on to taste a lot more action versus Newcastle during his staggering eleven years at the club

Celestine Babayaro: Snapped up in 1997 by Chelsea for a then record-transfer fee for a teenager, Babayaro first played in this fixture in August 1998 as both teams shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw.