Newcastle hope to shake Selhurst hoodoo against rejuvenated Palace

The Premier League weekend kicks off at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace host Newcastle.

Newcastle United are winless in their last five visits to Selhurst Park and will be seeking a first victory at the ground in the Premier League since December 2013 and after two successive defeats in a row, to high-flying Chelsea and an impressive Southampton side, they’ll be looking to do just that.

Palace lead Newcastle in the table by a marginal two points, although dropping three points away last week to strugglers Burnley in what was their first win of the season, was a result that will not have pleased manager Roy Hodgson.

However, Palace will feel confident ahead of Friday night’s clash having only lost one of their last five home Premier League matches.

This is a worry for Steve Bruce’s men who have struggled to find consistency in recent weeks having only won one of their last five games in the league this season and one away win in four.

Consistency is still an issue though this season for the Eagles who have gone back and forth between wins and losses in their previous four league games with an exciting 4-1 display against Leeds and a terribly disappointing result against Burnley. Going on form, Palace should be due a victory against the Magpies yet they have also never won a game on Friday in the Premier league having played twelve games, drawing five and losing seven.

Team News

Crystal palace will be without star man Wilfred Zaha who missed Monday’s fixture with Burnley after testing positive for coronavirus. Luka Milivojevic, who has also been recovering from coronavirus and isolating in Serbia, will hope he tests negative and be available again soon.

James Tomkins is a doubt for Palace having had a slight reoccurrence in training of a thigh injury which could pose a problem for Roy Hodgson after the disappointing performance of Cheikou Kouyate and Scott Dann against Burnley.

Nathan Ferguson (knee injury), Connor Wickham (other), and Wayne Hennessey are all also ruled out for this match.

This fixture has not produced many goals in recent times however the potential return of Newcastle’s top scorer Callum Wilson could provide a huge boost for the Magpies up front. Steve Bruce’s men have struggled without his contributions to the team since tweaking his hamstring against Southampton, having scored six goals in eight league games since joining from Bournemouth in September.

Jamal Lascelles and Ryan Fraser are both doubts for the away side, both of which have sustained thigh injuries, with Lascelles the more likely of the two to make the squad and Fraser at least another week or so away from a return.

Matt Ritchie has recovered from a shoulder injury and also looks set to return to the squad for United, having trained with the team for the past week.

Dwight Gayle (knee) is a doubt but could make the bench, Paul Dummett (thigh), Andy Carroll (calf/shin/heel) and Martin Dubravka (calf/shin/heel) are all ruled out.

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