Crystal Palace can make it third time lucky against Newcastle United this season as they welcome Eddie Howe's side to Selhurst Park this afternoon (17:30 GMT).
This will be the Eagles’ third meeting with Newcastle United this season, having made the journey to St James’ Park twice before the World Cup break. A colossal performance from Vicente Guaita earned Palace a point in the league encounter, while a young side were unlucky to exit the League Cup on penalties in November.
Palace took the lead in last season’s Selhurst Park fixture, with a towering Christian Benteke header cancelled out by Callum Wilson as the points were shared.
Michael Olise’s late free-kick against Manchester United was the piece of attacking inspiration Patrick Vieira had been waiting for, and the celebrations on the touchline demonstrated how valuable a point against the Champions League hopefuls is for momentum.
“It was important not to lose the game,” Vieira said after full-time. “Against a team who have been playing well, it was important for us to stay in the game as long as we could, and we managed to take a fully-deserved point. I’m pretty pleased with that.
“It was not a relief at all, because our performances have been quite good. We’ve been unlucky not to get more points. Of course, the results say something different, so I was really positive with the players and the way we wanted to play the game, and insisting about what we’ve been doing really well.
“When you don’t win games, there are some parts you have to improve. When you go through a difficult period, you have to keep working well, and working hard. On the other side, we showed some resilience, and that will be really important for the rest of the season.
“We didn’t get the result that we wanted in a couple of recent games, but the process is there. We are creating chances, so it was important [for us] to keep the positivity about how we want to play the game.”
Newcastle United fans have been in dreamland this season, as their expectations have moved post-takeover from a relegation scrap to a fight for Champions League football.
Even accounting for the investment, Eddie Howe has done a fantastic job in transforming the mood around the football club and turning Newcastle into one of the toughest sides to face this season.
St James’ Park has become something of a fortress, but they will have to regain their consistency if they are to become genuine title contenders – although a first major trophy in 47 years may await if they beat Southampton in the semi-final of the League Cup.
The Magpies will claim a first away win since Boxing Day if they win at Selhurst Park, after a goalless draw against league leaders Arsenal and a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.
Vieira shuffled his pack against Manchester United, with Will Hughes adding solidity alongside Cheick Doucouré and allowing Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha more freedom in attacking areas.
Chris Richards came into the side and impressed, and may be called upon again by the manager to deal with the multitude of goalscoring options in black and white.
Eddie Howe may feel spoilt for attacking options after the goalscoring return of club-record signing Alexander Isak against Fulham, with Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin all also in fine form.
But it is at the back that the foundations of Newcastle’s success have been laid, with Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn creating an often-impenetrable shield for Nick Pope in goal.
Watch live
The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK
Watching from abroad? You can check Premier League broadcast details wherever you are in the world by clicking here.
On Palace TV+
Live audio commentary Palace v Newcastle will be available on Palace TV+, a subscription service that gives subscribers live access to selected Academy match broadcasts, live audio commentary of all league and cup first-team games, and much more.
Find out more by clicking here.
Social media
You can check out our Instagram story for all of the pre-match build-up and our official Twitter page is bringing you up-to-the-minute match updates, eye-catching photos and more.
Our club website, cpfc.co.uk, is the place to go for team news on the dot, an instant report and all the post-match votes.
The official app
The official Palace app’s match centre and live blog is the place to be for everything you need during the Newcastle clash. With live stats and alerts, a running match commentary feed and lineups the moment they’re released as well as post-match reaction from Palace TV+, there’s no need to leave the app to follow the Eagles’ efforts.
