Newcastle United welcome Crystal Palace to St James’ Park with a mean streak in their veins after the crushing defeat to Liverpool in midweek. Eddie Howe has urged his players to use the 98th-minute loss as inspiration ahead of the Eagles’ clash.
The Magpies have a patchy record against Palace in recent years - losing two of their last four on home soil - an ominous sign ahead of a winnable fixture. However, Miguel Almiron was the hero on Tyneside back in April as his wondergoal was enough to separate the two sides.
Injury-wise, the Eagles picked up no fresh casualties in their 1-1 draw against Brentford on Tuesday. Patrick Vieira does have Jack Butland, James Tomkins, James McArthur and Nathan Ferguson on the treatment table but Will Hughes is expected to return to the squad after picking up a knock.
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In goal, Vicente Guaita has been their undisputed number one since arriving in 2018. Promising left-back Tyrick Mitchell was rested in midweek but should return today to replace utility man Joel Ward. Nathaniel Clyne, Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen will complete the defence.
Hughes will likely have to settle for a place on the bench, with Jeffrey Schlupp and Cheick Doucare acting as the pivot in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The dangerous attacking trio of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha is the most compelling aspect of Palace’s side, possessing the pace, skill and trickery to hurt any Premier League team.
Up front, it will be a straight shoot-out between Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Odsonne Édouard. Neither striker is having a purple patch in front of goal and the latter came on for the former against the Bees. It is a toss of the coin to see who starts but both players act as the focal point in the Eagles’ attack.
Predicted XI: Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Schlupp, Doucoure, Olise, Eze, Zaha; Mateta
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