Crystal Palace host Newcastle United in the Premier League at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night. Kick-off is at 8pm, there is no live UK TV coverage.
Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace side go into Wednesday's fixture off the back of their first back-to-back wins of the season and both of them were exceptionally impressive.
First off was a 1-0 win over title-chasing Liverpool and then there was Sunday's stunning 5-2 demolition of West Ham. A game in which they felt so bad about the scoreline, Dean Henderson gifted West Ham a second goal in the 89th minute out of pity.
That was a result that went in Newcastle's favour with West Ham hunting down the Magpies in the table with a view to European qualification, but now the Hammers are two points behind Newcastle having played two games more putting them at a big disadvantage.
Speaking after his side's 5-2 win, Oliver Glasner explained that Newcastle go into Wednesday's game with the upper hand having had 10 days rest compared to their two. (h/t The Shields Gazette)
"The players, how they started the game in the first 30 minutes, were really amazing. It was nice to watch for a manager. It was an excellent performance, but now the game is played. The game is played, we have the three points, and it’s our first back-to-back wins of the season.
"Now it’s the third one in a row against Newcastle [we are aiming for], and this will be a big challenge. They will be fresh, so we have maybe the same situation as West Ham today [having played in midweek], a little bit tired legs. Of course, we take a lot of positive things from the game today, but stay focused for the next challenges."
Newcastle may have the fresher legs, but our squad is still fairly depleted with some big names missing, however, Newcastle's recent record against Palace should also give the Magpies a psychological edge.
The Chronicle today pointed out that Crystal Palace haven't scored against Newcastle in 514 minutes of football. When you add that to the fact that they've only just managed to muster two wins in a row for the first time this season, a third really doesn't seem likely.
We don't want to sound too confident as it has blown up in our face before, but surely, there's three points in this one for Eddie Howe's men, right?
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
21 | 30 | 50 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
22 | 22 | 44 |
3 |
Nottingham Forest
|
22 | 11 | 44 |
4 |
Chelsea
|
22 | 17 | 40 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
22 | 15 | 38 |
6 |
Newcastle United
|
22 | 12 | 38 |
7 |
Bournemouth
|
22 | 10 | 37 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
22 | -1 | 36 |
9 |
Brighton
|
22 | 5 | 34 |
10 |
Fulham
|
22 | 4 | 33 |
11 |
Brentford
|
22 | 1 | 28 |
12 |
Crystal Palace
|
22 | -3 | 27 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
22 | -5 | 26 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
22 | -16 | 26 |
15 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
22 | 10 | 24 |
16 |
Everton
|
21 | -10 | 20 |
17 |
Wolves
|
22 | -19 | 16 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
22 | -23 | 16 |
19 |
Leicester
|
22 | -25 | 14 |
20 |
Southampton
|
22 | -35 | 6 |