Crystal Palace vs Newcastle Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battles, Team News & More

Newcastle United will make the trip down to Selhurst Park when they face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles come into the match in 12th place in the table, and will be looking to build on their 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town last weekend.

Rafa Benitez's side have made a disappointing start to the season. They currently sit in 19th place in the league, having struggled against several of the Premier League's heavy hitters already.

Classic Encounter

Newcastle 3-3 Crystal Palace (30 August 2014, Premier League)

Historically, Newcastle have had the advantage in this fixture in the Premier League, but their enthralling 3-3 draw from early in the 2014-15 season was certainly one of the more exciting clashes.

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Neil Warnock took charge of Crystal Palace for the first match of his second spell at the club, and he got off to a perfect start as Dwight Gayle opened the scoring for his side after just 30 seconds. However, the two teams entered half time level after Daryl Janmaat levelled shortly before half time.

An impressive volley from Jason Puncheon gave the Eagles the lead once again, only for an 18-year-old Rolando Aarons to head Newcastle level once more. The youngster then created a late goal for Mike Williamson, and it appeared as though The Magpies had stolen the victory. However, a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser ensured the two sides shared the points.

Key Battle

Wilfried Zaha vs. DeAndre Yedlin

Once again, Wilfried Zaha will almost certainly be Crystal Palace's primary danger man. The Ivorian's immense talents are well known, and it will be the job of American full back DeAndre Yedlin to try and contain Zaha on Saturday.

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After featuring heavily as a striker for his side, Zaha returned to his favoured left wing against Huddersfield, and still managed to get on the score sheet. He has netted three goals from four appearances so far this season, and will be keen to continue his impressive goalscoring form.

Yedlin is one of the few defenders in the league who can match Zaha for pace, but Zaha's skilful dribbling will ensure Yedlin cannot afford to lose concentration whilst facing the Ivorian. If he does, Zaha has talent to punish Newcastle.

Team News

Image by Jack Gallagher

Palace will be without long-term absentees Scott Dann, Pape Souare and Connor Wickham, whilst striker Christian Benteke is unlikely to have recovered from the knee injury which kept him out of his side's clash with Huddersfield. Aside from these, the club have no fresh injury concerns.

For Newcastle, they will certainly be without defender Florian Lejeune, whilst key duo Jonjo Shelvey and Jamaal Lascelles face a race against time to prove their fitness ahead of the clash. Shelvey is believed to be close to a return from his thigh injury, whilst the extent of Lascelles's ankle injury is currently unknown.

Predicted Lineups

Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur; Townsend, Zaha; Ayew.

Newcastle: Dubravka; Yedlin, Clark, Fernandez, Dummett; Richie, Diame, Hayden, Kenedy; Perez, Joselu.

Prediction

Both sides have endured a frustrating start to the season, but it will be Crystal Palace who are the more optimistic of the two teams. Newcastle have often looked incredibly poor this season, and they will certainly struggle if Shelvey and Lascelles fail to recover in time for the match.

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If Zaha can continue his impressive start to the season, he will certainly wreak havoc against Newcastle's defence, who have looked incredibly shaky at times this season. However, Benitez has the players to be able to take the game to Crystal Palace, but they may find themselves coming up just short.

Predicted Scoreline: Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle