Welcome to the Crystal Palace v Newcastle United preview.
Sunday 12th April with a 2pm kick-off.
Newcastle United play their first match for three weeks, travelling to Crystal Palace to do battle with an Eagles side who are not yet completely cleared of being sucked into a relegation battle.
With seven matches of a stop-start season still to play, the Toon will be hoping to put a run of form together that will see them muscle into the European spots.
Crystal Palace harbour European ambitions of their own, but theirs are of the more immediate variety having enjoyed a superb win midweek, meaning they’ve got one studded boot in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals.
Form
The last six league matches have seen NUFC win three and lose three, which is a fair reflection of our recent inconsistent form. We were well worth our victories over Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United but were left desperately disappointed to lose to Everton, Man City and the Mackems. We’ve scored nine goals in this sequence and conceded nine.
Crystal Palace have won three, drawn one and lost two of their past six matches. They enjoyed wins over Wolves, Brighton and Tottenham, drew with Leeds but lost to Burnley and Man United. They’ve scored eight goals and conceded six.
Last time out
Newcastle hosted the Mackems three weeks ago and were left devastated by a 2-1 defeat, meaning the black cats completed a derby double over the Toon despite NUFC taking an early lead.
The match was just ten minutes old when Woltemade seized on a defensive error to set up Gordon who gave the Toon a dream start with a well-taken opener. Newcastle dominated the first half and were desperately unlucky to see a Botman header rebound back off the post just before half-time. The Mackems came out swinging in the second-half and equalised in the fifty-seventh minute. Despite this, it was Toon fans celebrating with just fourteen minutes left when Thiaw powered home a header from a corner at the Gallowgate End. Unfortunately, these celebrations were cut short when the referee signalled a foul from Jacob Murphy on the ‘keeper. The Mackems went on to score a heartbreaking late winner to once again claim not just the three points but also the Tyne-Wear bragging rights on a desperately disappointing occasion for United.
Crystal Palace hosted Italian side Fiorentina in their UEFA Conference League quarter-final first leg on Thursday night and enjoyed a hugely impressive 3-0 victory. Two early goals put the Eagles firmly in control and a last-minute clincher makes them favourites to reach the semi-finals.
Stat attack!
-Newcastle have only won one of their past ten visits to Crystal Palace.
-The Toon have enjoyed five Premier League away victories over the Eagles.
-NUFC have scored in each of their last eight Premier League matches.
Memorable match
When Newcastle beat Palace 2-1 in 1997, it was a match that would be talked about for years! Strikes from Ketsbaia and Tomasson put the Toon two goals to the good before our opponents pulled one back to set up a nervy finish. The reason this match went down in history is that it was the last time Newcastle won in London for over four years!
Every time the Toon travelled to the big smoke this match was referenced along with some tedious ‘Capital punishment’ headlines in the local papers. Thankfully, Sir Bobby consigned our rotten London luck to the history books when coming from behind to beat Arsenal 3-1 in Dec 2001 and repeated the trick with an equally impressive 3-1 win away to Spurs a month later. Final Score Crystal Palace 1-2 Newcastle
Played for both
Shola Ameobi was something of a cult figure during an eventful fourteen year stay at NUFC.
Highlights include an incredible seven derby strikes, a number of European goals (including Champions League strikes away at Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen) and a spectacular goal in a 2-1 win over Chelsea when he controlled the ball on his chest and fired an effort into the bottom corner on the turn. Despite this, he was a frustrating character for much of his time on Tyneside, with fans lamenting unfulfilled potential and a lack of consistency in front of goal. He played four times on loan for Palace in 2015 without finding the net.
Yohan Cabaye signed for Alan Pardew in 2011 and enjoyed a fine first season in black and white, scoring a number of impressive goals, including a winner against Wigan and incredible free-kicks against both Blackburn and Man United as NUFC finished fifth in the league. The next season saw a dip in form for the whole team but Cabaye still managed eye-catching goals away from home in successive matches at the Mackems and Liverpool. He played half of the 13/14 season before signing for PSG in the January. Despite the circumstances of his move being slightly messy, he had enjoyed some success that season, scoring twice in a 3-1 win at West Ham and becoming the first Newcastle player to score the winning goal in a league match at Old Trafford for forty-one years. He signed for Crystal Palace in 2015 and scored nine goals in ninety-six league appearances. He also missed a penalty against Newcastle in 2016.
Andros Townsend signed for Rafa Benitez in 2016 and scored four goals in our fruitless attempt at avoiding relegation. The highlight of his time at NUFC was actually against Crystal Palace when he blasted home a free-kick on a day when Karl Darlow saved a penalty from Cabaye (see above) in a 1-0 win when it looked like we might pull off the great escape from the dreaded drop. He left the club following relegation, signed for Palace and played there for five years scoring thirteen goals in one hundred and sixty-eight league appearances.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland:
“I thought when we scored we’d go on and dominate the game and then we never really capitalised on that momentum that we had. The first half fizzled out, from our perspective. In the second half, we were second best throughout that half, I didn’t like our performance. Technically, we were poor. Too many giveaways, too many times we gave momentum back to Sunderland. I think a defeat’s harsh on us, but we certainly didn’t play anywhere near well enough. We’ve got some massive games to come in the Premier League. We get a chance to go into a different phase of our season where, week-to-week, we’re able to train and maybe get that freshness back in our performance. Very painful. Most of all, painful for supporters, They’re the ones I think about now.”
Oliver Glasner after a 3-0 home win over Fiorentina:
“More important (than the result) for me was the performance, in the first half and then let’s say the last 20 minutes. Brilliant, fantastic performance, great pressure, playing well and always attacking the box, the balls in behind. We knew that they are very compact but we were going in behind and creating so many chances, which was great to see.”
Charity
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
It is always difficult to make a prediction after such a long time without a match. Newcastle were looking jaded before the international break due to playing every single midweek as we juggled various cup commitments. Hopefully one match a week will suit Eddie’s boys better as we enjoy a late surge up the table. Crystal Palace 1-2 Newcastle.