Newcastle United will be looking to further strengthen their grip on a Premier League top-four spot when they travel to Selhurst Park to face tricky Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Saturday’s Premier League action will conclude at Selhurst Park with a Crystal Palace side that shocked Manchester United on Wednesday taking on Champions League-chasing Newcastle United.
The Toon left it late against Fulham at St James’ Park last weekend and were lucky with former Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic making a fuss of a penalty kick, but the hosts controlled the game overall and were duly rewarded with a very late winner thanks to substitute Alexander Isak.
Newcastle are showing no signs of slowing down or buckling in their quest for a top-four finish in the Premier League, and their dominance this season has been primarily driven by a diligent defence.
The Magpies have lost only one of their opening 19 games, and they possess the league’s best defensive record, having conceded just 11 goals.
While a title push still looks out of reach for Eddie Howe’s men, they do have a five-point buffer on fifth-placed Tottenham, so, at the halfway stage, Champions League qualification is well within their grasp.
With Manchester City coming from behind to beat Spurs 4-2 the day prior, Saturday’s clash represents an opportunity for Howe’s side to open the gap on the Lilywhites to eight points with a win, as well as leapfrog Manchester United into third, at least until the Red Devils face Arsenal the following day.
As for Crystal Palace, the Eagles come into this game off the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United on Wednesday night, courtesy of a sensational stoppage-time free-kick from Michael Olise.
That stalemate at least managed to stop the rot, snapping a three-game losing streak for Patrick Viera’s 12th-placed side, and the Frenchman will be hoping that result will serve as a catalyst as they look to move up the table when Newcastle comes to town.
Newcastle and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw in the reserve fixture earlier this term, where the Magpies were denied a perfectly good goal due to a terrible officiating decision. Ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides this Saturday, The Hard Tackle takes a look at both sides.
Team News & Tactics
Crystal Palace
“They’re a team that plays with a lot of confidence and belief, we have to be ready for that challenge.” 🗣#CPFC | #CRYNEW pic.twitter.com/k8oXMnzy6M
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 20, 2023
Influential defender Joachim Andersen missed Wednesday’s draw at Selhurst Park against Manchester United due to a calf injury and will miss the game with Newcastle with the same problem. Other long-term absentees, James McArthur and Nathan Ferguson, also remain out through injury.
Otherwise, Palace managed to get through their most recent game unscathed, and boss Patrick Vieira will almost have a complete pool of players to pick from.
The Frenchman made some significant changes to his starting XI in the midweek game, bringing Jean-Philippe Mateta into the starting lineup in a bid to infuse more goals into the lacklustre attack, though the quick turnaround between games could see Eberechi Eze and Jordan Ayew return to the fold.
Michael Olise, meanwhile, is likely to continue in the front three after salvaging a draw with a brilliant free-kick. Wilfried Zaha was in the best goalscoring form of his life at the start of the season, but goals and assists have dried up for the Ivorian international of late.
Cheick Doucoure will play as the stereotypical defensive midfielder, staying mostly in the middle third but prepared to drop deeper and defend close or even inside the penalty area if necessary. The same goes for Will Hughes, who impressed with his enforcer qualities against Man United last time out.
Elsewhere at the back, Vieira faces a healthy selection headache as USMNT international Chris Richards delivered a strong performance last time out, giving the Palace boss food for thought as the youngster looks to start back-to-back league games alongside Marc Guehi ahead of experienced defender James Tomkins.
Nathaniel Clyne will fill in at right-back, while Tyrick Mitchell hopes to catch the eye with his strong defensive qualities as the right-back. The full-back duo will most likely have their hands full trying to stop waves of Newcastle’s relentless front three. As always, Vicente Guaita will operate in between the sticks for the hosts.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Clyne, Richards, Guehi, Mitchell; Doucoure, Hughes; Olise, Eze, Zaha; Ayew
Newcastle United
🖤🤍 @officialcwood pic.twitter.com/HKF2uNGgzX
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 20, 2023
Eddie Howe has revealed that Chris Wood is having a medical ahead of a move to Nottingham Forest, conceding that the offer — a loan with a £15 million obligation to buy — was a “very good deal financially” for the club. However, Howe said that his likely successor may be of a different type, having been linked with a host of winger-cum-forwards, including the likes of Fiorentina’s Nico Gonzalez and Brazilian wonderkid Matheus Franca.
Bruno Guimaraes (ankle) will be a big injury miss for Newcastle United here, although the Brazilian’s injury is less serious than first feared. As the holding midfielder in the middle of the park, Guimaraes not only helps the players around him look better, but he also pulls the team’s strings moving forward, protects the backline in defence, and is one of the very few Newcastle players who can carve open defences with his slick passing.
Geordie midfielder Sean Longstaff will play in the No. 6 position and will have to display his playmaking ability as well as keep the ball circulation ticking along. He will be assisted by pressing monsters Joelinton and Joe Willock to compensate for Guimaraes’ absence.
Newcastle’s attack has been relatively poor since the turn of the year. Striker Callum Wilson has been in misfiring form since returning from the World Cup while leading scorer Miguel Almiron hasn’t scored since Boxing Day.
For that reason, club-record signing Isak was subbed on to pair alongside Wilson for the first time since his arrival against Fulham, and the two combined for the goal, with the latter playing the ball across for the former to bundle over the goal line.
Given Newcastle’s recent struggle to convert opportunities, the availability of Isak and Wilson is quite encouraging. With those on the matchday squad and Allan Saint-Maximin nearing full fitness, confidence should be strong.
Elsewhere, the Toon rearguard remains solid as you like. You would have to go back to Sunday, November 6, to find the last time Newcastle United conceded a goal in a Premier League game; that too was a consolation in a 4-1 thrashing of Southampton.
Simply put, the back four of Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, and Kieran Trippier have been rock-solid in front of Nick Pope, who is currently leading the Premier League Golden Glove race by some distance. Overall, Eddie Howe will keep majority of the playing eleven from last weekend.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton; Almiron, Wilson, Saint-Maximin
Key Stats
- Newcastle have kept a clean sheet in their last five Premier League matches and have preserved clean sheets in their last three meetings with Palace.
- The Magpies are undefeated in their last 14 Premier League matches.
- Crystal Palace have lost four of their last five league games without scoring.
- Newcastle United have a good record at Selhurst Park, as they’ve lost just two of their 11 Premier League visits to this venue (W5, D4).
- 12 of the last 13 meetings between these sides have finished with under 2.5 goals scored.
Player to Watch
Fabian Schar
It wasn’t long ago, Fabian Schar was deemed not good enough by the previous Newcastle boss and looked destined to leave. However, times, as well as fortunes, have changed rapidly on Tyneside in the last year or so, and the Switzerland international is a major part of the best defence in European football as a resurgent Toon push towards a top-four finish.
Ask any Newcastle supporter about Schar, and three words immediately come to mind: reckless, ill-disciplined, and lazy. In short, he couldn’t thrive in a back-four under previous bosses, but he’s excelling in that same setup under Howe at the age of 31, displaying his best and most consistent form in a black and white shirt.
So much so, he’s arguably been the best Premier League defender this season. And while he rarely makes the headlines—defensive partner Sven Botman often earns plaudits above the Swiss international—that’s hardly an overrated statement when you consider Newcastle have been unbeaten in 20 games when he has been named in Eddie Howe’s side.
The ball-playing Swiss defender is in sublime form at the moment and has been a pillar of this overperforming Newcastle side thanks to his relentless physicality, exceptional playmaking, and range of passing, and intelligence to be at the right place at the right time to mop things up.
Prediction
Crystal Palace 0-1 Newcastle United
This match promises to be lively and engrossing one, Newcastle and Palace will likely make this contest ugly, sluggish, and choppy, with the former likely to struggle without the flair of Guimaraes. A Palace team that has struggled against top-ten Premier League opponents will not be able to overwhelm the league’s best defence and one of the most physically intimidating sides in the country out of the blue.
Their best route of getting a result is to remain defensively stout, and deep before launching fast-paced counter-attacks with Zaha, Eze, and Olise’s boundless pace, and drift. However, Newcastle are riding on incredible positive momentum and team spirit at the moment, and welcoming back Isak could help Howe’s men to edge out a tight game, and get the job done at Selhurst Park by securing a narrow 1-0 victory.
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