Aiming to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone, Crystal Palace welcome Newcastle United to Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon.
While the Eagles picked up a point in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last weekend, the Magpies suffered a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham United on Monday.
Match preview
© Imago
Crystal Palace accumulated a total of 24 points from their final 13 Premier League matches last season under manager Oliver Glasner, and Eagles supporters were hoping to see their team build on their 10th-placed finish this term.
However, Glasner and co have picked up just eight points from their opening 12 top-flight fixtures, with their solitary win at home to Tottenham Hotspur (1-0) on October 27 followed by two draws and a defeat in their last three league games.
Palace were seemingly on course to collect three precious points away against Aston Villa last weekend, as they were leading 2-1 heading into the final quarter on an hour courtesy of goals from Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny - the latter celebrated netting his first PL goal. However, Ross Barkley's 77th-minute header forced both teams to share the spoils.
Sitting 19th in the table and only one point adrift of safety, Palace can climb out of the relegation zone if they beat a Newcastle side whom they beat in this exact fixture by a 2-0 scoreline in April of last season. The Eagles last won consecutive games against the Magpies back in 1971 and 1972 (a run of three).
Palace will need to rectify their home form if they wish to come out on top this weekend, though, as they have picked up the second-fewest Premier League points (five) in front of their own fans after six games, while just three of their 10 top-flight goals have been scored at home; both a league-low total and percentage (30%) in the division thus far.
© Imago
After claiming three impressive wins on the bounce, following up a 2-0 EFL Cup success over Chelsea with back-to-back Premier League victories against Arsenal (1-0) and Nottingham Forest (3-1), Newcastle were brought back down to earth by West Ham on Monday.
Goals either side of half time from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka condemned the Magpies to their fourth league loss of the campaign, and while manager Eddie Howe was "pretty pleased" with his side's display in the opening 60 minutes, he "didn't enjoy" the final half-hour and was ultimately left ruing "individual mistakes" for both goals conceded.
With 18 points from 12 matches, Newcastle currently sit 10th in the Premier League table, but a positive run of form put together in the coming weeks would see them shoot right up the standings as they are only four points behind the top four and five behind an out-of-sorts Man City in second.
The Magpies have struggled on their travels to the capital, though, as they have lost six of their eight visits to London, having previously put together an eight-game unbeaten away run in the city between October 2022 and October 2023 (W4 D4).
Newcastle have also had limited success when playing at Selhurst Park, as they have come out on top in just one of their last nine Premier League visits (D5 L3) after winning each of their first four top-flight away meetings with Crystal Palace.
Team News
© Imago
Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada will serve the second of a three-match suspension, while Chadi Riad (knee), Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca (both groin) all remain sidelined as they continue to recover from injury.
However, Glasner has confirmed that both Eberechi Eze and Eddie Nketiah will return to the matchday squad after recovering from hamstring injuries, although it remains to be seen whether the attacking duo will be fit to start.
Jefferson Lerma recovered from injury to make a cameo substitute appearance in Palace's draw with Aston Villa, and he is now in contention to replace either Will Hughes or Cheick Doucoure in centre-midfield.
As for Newcastle, Jamaal Lascelles, Sven Botman (both knee) and Emil Krafth (collarbone) all remain in the treatment room, while Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock "have a chance" of playing and will be assessed after coming off in the defeat to West Ham with respective glute and calf injuries.
Sandro Tonali may be recalled and Joelinton could drop back into midfield to link up with Sean Longstaff if Guimaraes and Willock are not deemed fit to start. Joelinton's potential positional change would open the door for either Harvey Barnes, Miguel Almiron or Callum Wilson to start in attack alongside Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.
Dan Burn served a one-match suspension last time out, but he is available to return to Howe's starting lineup and will likely replace Lloyd Kelly at centre-back.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Doucoure, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Devenny; Mateta
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Tonali, Joelinton; Gordon, Isak, Barnes
We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle United
Four of the last seven meetings between these two teams have ended as a draw, while only one of those last seven have produced more than two goals, so a low-scoring and closely-fought contest could be in store this weekend.
Both sides are keen to return to winning ways, but taking into account Palace's poor home form and Newcastle's recent struggles on their travels to London, we can see the spoils being shared on this occasion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
