Newcastle United welcome Crystal Palace to St James’ Park as both teams look to move further away from the relegation battle.
Should Wolves lose to Arsenal in the early kick-off, Newcastle can go 14th with victory whereas Palace could find themselves needing a point to recover 13th if Wolves win their clash against Arsenal.
Team News
Ryan Fraser is a doubt for Newcastle due to illness.
Paul Dummett (thigh) could return but Jamaal Lascelles joins Federico Fernandez on sidelines with hamstring injuries.
Palace could be without James McArthur after he sat out Saturday’s win over Wolves with a muscle injury.
Nathaniel Clyne and James McCarthy are both doubts but Jeffrey Schlupp (hamstring), Wayne Hennessey, Mamadou Sakho, Nathan Ferguson, Connor Wickham (all thigh) and James Tomkins (eye) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle have lost just two of last eight meetings against Crystal Palace (W4, D2, L2).
- Palace have won just one of their last six trips to St James’ Park (W1, D1, L4).
- This fixture hasn’t seen both teams score in any of last five meetings since a 1-1 draw in February 2018.
- No Newcastle player has produced more assists this season than the four assists made by Callum Wilson.
- Only one of Eberechi Eze’s three league goals this season came on his left foot.
Prediction
After 11 matches without a single win in all competitions, Newcastle certainly seemed to find something deep at Everton because their 4-4-2 diamond formation switch benefitted their overall play, even though they had to defend early but they found opportunities when on the attack and took their chances well.
Palace meanwhile were simply dominant against Wolves but wasted opportunities through their indecision when it came to producing the end product of fantastic attacks, which is something that they need to work on if want to score more goals and seal match wins quicker.
I therefore am expecting a close game here because if Newcastle stick with their 4-4-2 diamond formation, Palace will be in for a difficult match in terms of creativity and their rotten away form at the Magpies will also be a psychological issue here.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-0 Crystal Palace
Result: Newcastle 1-2 Crystal Palace