Crystal Palace head to Newcastle for a mid-table battle in the Premier League on Saturday. Steve Bruce’s side are eleventh – one point and two places behind the Eagles.
Following an eye-catching draw with Manchester City, Newcastle recorded wins over Sheffield United and Southampton. But a 1-0 defeat to Burnley last time out put an end to the Magpies’ promising run.
Despite their recent defeat, Newcastle seem to have shaken off their poor start to the campaign. After lingering around the relegation zone for a while, Bruce has guided the team seven points clear of the bottom three.
Many supporters voiced their concerns following Bruce’s appointment, but the manager is slowly starting to get the Newcastle faithful on his side.
Crystal Palace come into this game on a four-game unbeaten run. Palace saw off Burnley and Bournemouth, before drawing with Watford and Brighton.
In the Eagles’ previous game, Wilfried Zaha snatched a point for his team. Palace only saw 34% of the possession at home against Brighton, but still managed to come away with a draw.
Interestingly, Palace have scored more goals away from home this season. Hodgson’s men have often struggled to dominate games at Selhurst Park, so they will be quietly confident heading to St. James’ Park.
Having said that, Newcastle have been far stronger at home this term. Bruce’s team have only lost one of their eight league games at home in 2019/20.
Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Newcastle, but this fixture has not produced many goals in recent times.
The last five games between Palace and Newcastle have dished up a total of five goals, while one of the teams has failed to score on four occasions in that time.
With both sides struggling for goals this season, we are set for another low-scoring encounter.
Exciting winger Allan Saint-Maximin remains sidelined for the Magpies, but club captain Jamaal Lascelles is close to returning to first team action following a lengthy layoff.
Palace defenders Mamadou Sakho, Patrick van Aanholt and Gary Cahill are all unavailable due to injury, while Andros Townsend remains a long-term absentee.
Both teams have been solid at the back this term, but neither side has been firing at the other end of the pitch recently.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that a low-scoring draw is on the cards.