Crystal Palace vs. Newcastle
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick off: 4PM
Crystal Palace welcome Newcastle United to Selhurst Park this afternoon having suffered three successive defeats in the Premier League.
While the Magpies have not fared much better, picking up two points over the same period has kept the club above Palace in the table.
At one stage this season, Palace were riding high in fifth position and had realistic hopes of earning a place in the Europa League for the next campaign.
However, a run of seven matches without success have left Palace on the brink of becoming involved in a relegation battle, as well as Roy Hodgson being replaced in the summer.
Since the turn of the year, the Eagles have earned morale-boosting draws with Arsenal and Manchester City, but there were signs in their last outing against Everton that confidence was in short supply.
On a positive note, Christian Benteke ended his prolonged wait for a Premier League goal, although the Belgian was guilty of squandering an excellent opportunity to get Palace back on level terms for a second time in the contest.
Although Palace face a run of games against teams around them, it is unclear whether being involved in high-stakes fixtures in the coming weeks will benefit them given their struggles at both ends of the pitch.
From Newcastle’s perspective, a second trip to London in the space of a week is also not ideal after their thrashing at the hands of Arsenal last Sunday.
Nevertheless, Steve Bruce will view it as an opportunity for his team to right some wrongs as the North-East outfit look to stay out of trouble in the coming months.
Despite having their moments at the Emirates Stadium, their defensive performance in the second half was almost non-existent, much to the frustration of a manager who has prided himself on keeping things tight at the back this season.
Bruce will feel that Palace, who possess an equally poor record in the final third as Newcastle, are ideal opponents, but the visitors may have to rely on some individual brilliance from one of their attackers to get anything from what should be a closely-fought game.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Ward, Dann, Cahill, Van Aanholt, McCarthy, Milivojevic, McArthur, Ayew, Benteke, Zaha.
Newcastle United possible XI: Dubravka, Lazaro, Fernandez, Lascelles, Schar, Rose, Almiron, Hayden, Bentaleb, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
