Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: pre-match thoughts, team news & predicted line-ups

After a week full of takeover talk following Mike Ashley’s ‘up for sale’ announcement on Monday, it would have been easy to forget we even have a game to play at St James’ Park this weekend!

It’s been a bit of a manic week off the pitch and, as Benitez has stressed in his odd appearance in the media, I’m hoping this doesn’t distract us on the pitch in what is an important game with Crystal Palace. It sounds like Staveley WON’T be present in the stands to take in this one, but that might be just as well to keep distractions to a minimum.

Now to the game itself. Last weekend’s performance at Southampton was a funny one. We scored two goals on the road (having netted just once in three away outings prior), looked organised and hard to beat as ever, also seeing some promising performances, with Lejeune looking good and Perez and Hayden putting in some improved performances. On the flip side, the two goals we conceded were cheap and it was a game we were frustrated to come away with just a point from – although this just shows how far we’ve already come this season if we’re leaving St Mary’s disappointed to have only gotten a draw!

Still, any point on the road is a decent one when you’re a newly promoted side whose first objective is survival, and that the result will do little to deter our momentum going into this one.

Now to our opponents – Crystal Palace. A week ago today, not only had they failed to register a single point in the league, but they were still awaiting their first goal of the season!

The mood in Roy Hodgson’s camp is likely to have changed dramatically since then however, thanks to a real turn up for the books from them last Saturday. They put in an unexpected but much needed performance against reigning Champions Chelsea in a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park and they’ll be heading into this one with a spring in their step as a result. Well, you’d think so anyway, but football isn’t always as simple as that.

Yes they’ll have added belief and they’ll be looking to replicate last weekend’s performance, but this is a team that have lost their last 4 away games by an aggregate score of 11-0 – which suggests huge improvements are still required from them away from Selhurst Park.

I would also argue that their win against Chelsea could in fact have a positive effect on our approach to the game. Benitez would’ve been wary of complacency even if Chelsea had stuffed them 5-0, but the fact they won has probably made the players (and some of our fans) sit up and take note, eradicating any complacency we may have shown otherwise.

Hopefully both us fans on the terraces and our players on the pitch can take Palace seriously and really get into them and up for this one. Given they are still rock bottom, it may, to some, look like a game we’ll turn up and win because we’re ‘organised’, ‘hard working’ and have started well, but the likes of Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend will have something to say about that if we stand off and don’t compete.

We need to get right behind the lads here. With tough games to come after our ‘winnable’ looking next three, this is a big chance to turn our solid start into a sensational one.

  

The Team

There’s some difficult decisions for Rafa to make ahead of this one. He rested both Ciaran Clark and Mikel Merino at Southampton last week, and the two that came in – Florian Lejeune and Isaac Hayden – were arguably our two best performers that day.

Given how good he’s been, I fully expect Merino to return – seeing Hayden potentially miss out – but I see Lejeune keeping his place in the side.

He really impressed me at Southampton and even though he made a costly error to concede the penalty, he generally cut a composed and calm figure who has a lot to offer us at the back.

He’s a ball player, a reader of the game and a big unit who’ll win headers in both boxes and has the potential to become one of our most important players. Big claims for a player who only played his first full competitive game for us last weekend I know, but I see him being a big part of Rafa’s plans.

Does that mean Clark misses out? Possibly not. He has been a big player for us over the past 12 months and hasn’t done much wrong this season, making me wonder if he *might* be used at left-back in an attempt to cope with the dangerous Wilfried Zaha?

Manquillo has done a steady job in the last two games, but my only criticism of his is his tendency to have the odd lapse positionally. Fortunately, Mo Salah didn’t punish this in our last home outing, but Zaha could well.

It may be a mismatch in terms of pace if Clark was given the task of marking Zaha from left-back, but this is a position he’s played in several times before and his superior defensive awareness to that of Manquillo’s, combined with the fact he actually is left-footed, may just be Rafa’s attempt to help us cope with that threat?

Aside from that I don’t see any other potential changes that Rafa would make.

Hopefully Yedlin can repeat the superb performance he put in against Liverpool last time out at St James’, with the American speedster likely to be marking the returning Andros Townsend. That being said, Andros might be just as much marking him if Yedlin gets motoring down that right hand side with Matt Ritchie!

Lascelles hasn’t been heading in winners recently but, perhaps more crucially, he’s continued to look rock solid defensively, so hopefully he can keep that up. That being said, Palace will be unable to be play with a recognised striker with Benteke and Whickham both injured, meaning the skipper won’t have a big man to mark (which he seems to like). Instead he must cope with the slightly more elusive and floating threats of Townsend, Zaha and Loftus-Cheek – the sort of tricky players he sometimes struggled with last season.

It’d be tough on Hayden if he was dropped after his solid display at Southampton, but the exciting combo of Merino and Shelvey was tested in our last home game and seemed to work well, so you’d think the slightly more attack minded pair would start at home to bottom of the league Palace – a team we’ll be going out to beat.

Atsu and Ritchie are nailed on starters out wide, with Murphy or Aarons being nowhere to be seen after promising pre-seasons, whilst Perez will be in the number 10 role once again.

He was better against Southampton, scoring a goal that epitomises his efforts in the team, but I still want to see more from him. On occasion he still wanted a bit too much time on the ball for my liking and tended to lose it cheaply or fall short with the final pass, but the goal will give him a confidence boost and one he deserves given how hard he’s worked for the team this season.

Joselu didn’t get much up top at St Mary’s, but did score in his last game at St James’ and hopefully he can take confidence from that going into this one.

Gayle is missing with a calf injury, meaning Aleksandar Mitrovic looks likely to earn a place back on the substitutes bench for the first time since returning from suspension. There’ll be calls for him to start, and I would like to see him handed his chance sooner rather than later, but I don’t see it happening until he wins back Rafa’s trust – a battle he’s clearly losing thus far.

 

The Opposition

As we know with the first two in particular, the likes of Andros Towsend, Yohan Cabaye and Ruben Loftus Cheek are capable players, possessing quality we’ll have to be wary of, but their biggest threat is undoubtedly the returning Wilfried Zaha.

Prior to last weekend, Palace have generally looked pretty all over the place in just about every department, so it’s no coincidence that their first win and first goals of the season came on Zaha’s return to the side last weekend.

He has power, pace to burn and the trickery to beat his man at ease – having showed all of those traits in his brilliant goal against Chelsea last time out. He’s an explosive talent capable of causing havoc and whoever starts at left-back is likely to have a real tough task on their hands to contain him.

In defence, Mamadou Sakho could be one to target. A good defender and fierce competitor, but also one who has it in him to look like Bambi on ice on the ball, meaning Perez and Joselu must do their utmost to put pressure on him. Centre-back partner Scott Dann will be one to watch from corners, being a defender who often chips in with a few set piece goals each season.

Left-back Patrick Van Aanholt – who spent a brief spell with us on loan in 2010 – is a dangerous full-back offensively, but lacks defensive instincts. Hopefully Matt Ritchie and DeAndre Yedlin can exploit that.

At right-back, Joel Ward is a big lad but lacks pace. Atsu needs to run at him.

For an inside look into Sunday’s opposition, see this weeks edition of ‘The Oppostion Opinion’ where we’ve gained the thoughts of Palace fan Stuart ahead of the game.

Form

Newcastle (9th – 11 pts) – Last 5 in the league – Won: 2 / Drawn: 2 / Lost: 1

Crystal Palace (20th – 3 pts) – Last 5 in the league /  Won: 1 / Drawn: 0 / Lost: 4

Team News

Dwight Gayle has been ruled out of this one with a ‘little problem’ in his calf, meaning Aleksandar Mitrovic will more than likely return to the squad via the bench.

Mikel Merino should return after being rested last time out, but it remains to be seen if Florian Lejeune will keep his place ahead of Ciaran Clark at centre-back.

Paul Dummett is out once again, whilst Massaido Haidara has returned to training – not that I’m expecting him to be back in the fold anytime soon.

Palace welcome back Wayne Hennessey (calf) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (ineligible) after they missed out last weekend.

Roy Hodgson’s only other absentees are striking duo Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham (knee ligament) – meaning Zaha and Townsend may be forced to operate up front again.

 

Predicted Line-ups

Newcastle United XI – (4-2-3-1) – Elliot – Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Clark – Shelvey, Merino – Ritchie, Perez , Atsu – Joselu

Crystal Palace XI (4-2-3-1) – Speroni – Ward , Dann, Sakho, Van Aanholt – Cabaye, Milivojevic – Townsend, Loftus Cheek, Schlupp – Zaha

 

Head-to-Heads

Aside from our despicable capitulation at Selhurst Park under Alan Pardew in 2015, we’ve generally done well against Palace over the years.

Here’s hoping that trend continues!

Match Prediction

A big game for me, this. We’ve started well, but the focus still must be staying up and beating Palace would put us 11 points clear of them, providing a another big step in the right direction and a reassuring indicator that we are better than our potential relegation rivals.

It will be interesting to see how we cope on the pitch after so many distractions off it this week and whether or not Crystal Palace can replicate the sort of performance they put in against Chelsea last time out.

Taming Wilfried Zaha will be a big test, but I hope to see us show a little more going forward at the other end of the pitch against a side who’ve shipped more goals in their last two away games than we have all season.

A game I’m quietly quite wary of here, but I’m hopeful that we can stay focused and grind out another good result. I’ll go for a closely contested match and narrow win.

Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Crystal Palace

Howay the lads!

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

97 thoughts on “Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: pre-match thoughts, team news & predicted line-ups

  1. SHAM from last thread,Ime struggling to get my head round it was only a couple of days ago I was chatting to him on f/b,he wanted to come back and live at home in the toon,he never liked where he was living

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  2. Icedog:
    SHAM from last thread,Ime struggling to get my head round it was only a couple of days ago I was chatting to him on f/b,he wanted to come back and live at home in the toon,he never liked where he was living

    Must have been sudden if he was thinking about future plans. Probably a good thing… Life is a fleeting, precious thing.

    Why some people are determined to wreak death and destruction on the world is beyond me.

    Hope it has not knocked you too hard mate and I echo Prem’s sentiments in sparing a thought for his family.

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  3. Wet Spam, Rooney and Palace all getting relegated would fun. I don’t think it will happen, but please…

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  4. RIP Batty, very sad news ICE, always found him a nice guy to chat with.
    So sad he didn’t get to come home, thoughts with his family and friends.

    Hope the Toon get a win for Batty tomorrow.

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  5. Hi folks long time no see or hear . As for batty he was areal friend and blog legend.
    But to move convo for a minute I have clicked on to the blog from news now loads of times but it’s always post with no comments ?

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  6. Yes Dave the site does lots of filler articles now. Just got to click on the website now mate. Good to see you back. Hope you are well and would love to see more of you.

      (Quote)

  7. Ice I just spend 5 mins trying to find the last post you mentioned about but couldn’t find it ? is there no way of cutting out all the click bait post and go to the post that bloggers are chatting on ?? ???

      (Quote)

  8. Sham nice to hear from you mate but is there some way of skipping the others to get on to the chat as it is really annoying mate.
    How’s you anyway ? All good I hope

      (Quote)

  9. Just go this website mate and the featured article with comments on it is on the top left of the home page..

    Yeah I’m good. On a temporary promotion at work and opened a Deli/Cafe for my wife as well. Kids doing good..

    Most of us are still hanging around keeping each other company mate, but it would a better time if you were here more often. Stick about ?

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  10. I promise as a tribute to my friend I will try to get on more often and stay in touch.
    I really have tried to get on but after scrolling through 4 or 5 posts I end up just saying fuk it and closing the page down, and it is a pity as this blog was a big part of my life for years

      (Quote)

  11. The new guys are pretty good (most of the time) these days for adding links to new threads for us all to move onto. So just keep this page open in browser and you should stay with us lot. Just takes a bit of getting used to the change mate. I know Ice and Kim in particular would be made up to have you back.

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  12. I always thought Bilic would be a alright manager turns out he’s a pilic really he hasn’t got to bad of a player at the club and should be better than they are

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  13. PETER B under 23s beaten again at home,he just cannot coach they have been rubbish since he took them over,Rafa will have to replace him imo sentiment has no room in football Ime afraid

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  14. Icedog:
    PETER B under 23s beaten again at home,he just cannot coach they have been rubbish since he took them over,Rafa will have to replace him imo sentiment has no room in football Ime afraid

    Agreed. We should be able to attract some of the best young talent in the UK and beyond and certainly in the NE. Breeding a losing culture at that point in their career will do the long term prospects of the players and first team no good at all.

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  15. Ice, really sorry to hear about Batty mate, may he rest in peace and thoughts go to his family.

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  16. Tell you what, I’m chuffed for Hoots. His team is doing well and he has 100 PL games as manager under his belt.

    Quality bloke that deserves his success. Wish he had stayed here for longer.

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  17. Big Dave! Welcome back!

    Anyway, I have a horrible feeling about this game. They’ve had the worst start in PL history and won their first game last week. How often does one turn into two… All the positivity about a takeover this week and I can just see a disappointing result. Although I do think Perez will score.

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  18. shamrock:
    Just go this website mate and the featured article with comments on it is on the top left of the home page..

    Yeah I’m good. On a temporary promotion at work and opened a Deli/Cafe for my wife as well. Kids doing good..

    Most of us are still hanging around keeping each other company mate, but it would a better time if you were here more often. Stick about ?

    Where’s the cafe?

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  19. kimtoon:
    Big Dave, where you been hiding ?

    Kim to be honest I was still keeping up but didn’t really comment. Then things changed on here and it was hard to find posts that people were commenting on. So I ended up not even coming on anymore.

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  20. Big Dave: Kim to be honest I was still keeping up but didn’t really comment. Then things changed on here and it was hard to find posts that people were commenting on.So I ended up not even coming on anymore.

    nice to see you back mate, you have been missed. The current chat thread is always top left hand corner now.

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  21. Dave, what’s your take on takeover talk mate ?, I’ll believe it when I see it, don’t trust him to make any buyout straight forward.

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  22. Reckon this game could be a banana skin, they have some really good players, creative players. I do expect Rafa to outwit Roy though, just need the players to stick to the plan .

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  23. shamrock:
    I think we will beat Palace. Keep Zaha quiet and they will fall apart.

    Hope so Shamrock. I think 2-1.

    Chelsea are missing Matic. Bakayoko seems a bit shyte, they may as well be playing Yoko Ono in the middle.

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  24. Mind this Watford side are a canny team,they beat the gunners last wk now they are beating Chelsea,mind they aren’t on their game but still doing well

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  25. kimtoon:
    Watford have had a great start to be fair. Chelsea level through Bats, game on.

    Hazard isn’t on his game lately,when he’s on his game Chelsea are a different team

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  26. They had that 3-3 midweek as well.

    Surprised Moreno isn’t starting. On the bench with Mitro.

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  27. Pardew tried it once didn’t he. When we got a last minute winner against Stoke. Oh them halcyon days…

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  28. No links lads , tried two which tried to infect my PC, so have given up looking.
    Trying to find a radio link now

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  29. Stuart79: I’m in dubai and sat in a bar with the iPad ? While City’s on beIN. Eplsite.info

    Yes I see the city game. They usually have all the prem games on a Saturday but for first time only one game. All the rest is German. ??? which bar you in mate? I’ve got the radio stream on from the club.

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  30. Reading the BBC live com and this game is one foul after another by both sides, gonna be an interesting watch later on MOTD.

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  31. Cabaye should have been sent off.. terrible tackle. Petulant dirty french ******!

    Poor game! How is Hayden starting before Merino? He has barely touched the ball!

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  32. I’d bring Merino and Mitro on. It’s going to be a game where we might only get one or two chances and Joselu probably not the man to take one of them. Also Merino more craft.

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  33. Aussie:
    Cabaye should have been sent off.. terrible tackle. Petulant dirty french ******!

    Poor game! How is Hayden starting before Merino?He has barely touched the ball!

    We need to wind up Cabaye, shouldn’t be too hard if I remember rightly.

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  34. can’t believe manure are losing to Huddersfield, thought the wheels had come off hudders a bit recently.

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  35. Yeah Kim. He is a hot head..
    The ref ran in after the tackle like he was going to show a red and then took his time over the decision. Lucky boy is Cabaye..

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  36. We’re actually playing like we have average players. Just shows what a job Rafa has done really.

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  37. Aussie:
    Yeah Kim. He is a hot head..
    The ref ran in after the tackle like he was going to show a red and then took his time over the decision. Lucky boy is Cabaye..

    imagine if that had been Mitro or Shelvey though.

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