On Friday night, at 20:00, Crystal Palace and Newcastle meet on Selhurst Park for an interesting match, which opens the 10th round of the Premier League.
Crystal Palace is a formidable team on its own field, which has gained a lot of homogeneity and maturity in recent years. Roy Hogson organized a very difficult defense in London, but on Friday night he could hardly weigh the absences of Milivojevic (suspended) and Zaha (ill). Ferguson, Hennessey, Wickham and Tomkins are still missing from Palace’s camp, but the London staff hopes to recover the latter at the last minute.
Steve Bruce, in Newcastle, has bigger problems. He can’t count on core players like Dubravka, Dummett, Fraser, Gayle, Ritchie and Callum Wilson. It is no less true that Newcastle have become “accustomed” to playing without these footballers, so the absences listed will not greatly impact the appearance of the game at Selhurst Park, for guests.
Crystal Palace is on the 11th place in the Premier League (goal average 12-13), with four victories this season. With a sinusoidal shape lately, the red-blues have won only two stages out of the last five. Instead, Newcastle is on the 15th place (goal average 10-15), with visible offensive problems, in the absence of Wilson from the first “11”. Thus, the “cotofenele” have only one success in the last five stages and the black and white team slipped dangerously in the relegation zone of the Premier League. Both rivals come after modest results in the previous round: Palace lost to Burnley, 0-1, while Newcastle had no chances against Chelsea, at home, 0-2. For the Nordics it was the second consecutive stage without a goal scored in the championship.
Leiester won 4-0 at home, after goals from Iheanacho (’21 and ’48), Praet (’67) and Maddison (’78). In the end, the “foxes” had counted 14 shots at goal, of which 6 squares, and the ratio of the corners was 10-2 in favor of the English.
We expect a slightly better match from Braga, in a match attended by a limited number of spectators. Leicester have unpleasant memories from the last visit on Portuguese soil, where they lost 0-5. Braga, however, does not have a great balance with the teams from Albion: 7 victories, 3 draws and 11 defeats. It should be noted, however, that five of these successes were recorded on their own ground.
In direct duels, we are used to seeing matches without a show: only three goals have been scored in total in the last four matches between Palace and Newcastle! The Londoners won 1-0 two of the last three matches, and the black and whites have a success in turn, score 1-0. In fact, the last 7 direct duels between the two had less than three goals scored, so it would be a big surprise to see a game open on Friday night.
“I am confident that the players will regain their confidence at the end, because we played well this season, but the small details made the difference to our detriment,” Steve Bruce said on Wednesday. Most likely, his Palace counterpart, Roy Hodgson, will organize a flawless defense, knowing that the three points are vital for keeping his team at the top of the standings. Palace have conceded a goal in the last 8 consecutive stages of the league, and the absence of Welshman Hennessey from the goal is an important factor.
With no wins in three consecutive away games, Newcastle are “friendly” with warning bets when playing away, and selecting “Over 3.5 yellow cards” in Thursday night’s game could be a profitable option. We were expecting a tough match, played on an aggressive note, but without too many achievements in the two squares. Like Palace, Newcastle have conceded a goal in the last 8 consecutive stages and must display a higher level of defense in the 10th round. We bet on the attention of the two managers for organizing the game.
Crystal Palace: Watchtower; Clyne, Sakho, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Townsend, McArthur, Riedewald, Schlupp; Eze, Batshuayi
Coach: Roy Hodgson
Newcastle United: Darlow; Murphy, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Lewis; Almiron, Shelvey, Hayden, Saint-Maximin; Wilson
Coach: Steve Bruce
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,96
