Preview: Crystal Palace vs. Newcastle United

Alan Pardew will come up against his former club on Saturday afternoon as Crystal Palace welcome Newcastle United to Selhurst Park.

The Eagles will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Sunderland on Monday evening, while the Magpies are struggling in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Crystal Palace

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Since Pardew's appointment as manager of the Eagles at the beginning of the year, the club have gone from relegation candidates to a solid mid-table outfit.

They have taken their impressive performances from the final few months of last season into the current campaign and will head into the weekend in 10th place in the Premier League.

With three wins from their opening four games this season there has even been talk of a challenge for a Europa League spot, but those hopes have faded slightly after a recent dip in form.

The Londoners have claimed just one win from their previous five league outings, although that was an impressive 3-1 victory over Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at Anfield.

It is at home where they have struggled most and they have picked up just two victories from their seven league games at Selhurst Park, with four of those matches ending in defeat.

The most recent of those fixtures came on Monday evening, where a late goal from Jermain Defoe saw them slip to a 1-0 defeat against struggling Sunderland.

Recent form: LLDWL

Newcastle United

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Pardew's departure from Newcastle 11 months ago is still being keenly felt by everyone at the club and their current form is showing no sign of improving.

The Magpies have won only five of their league games since he moved to Palace and their alarming decline saw them narrowly avoid relegation on the final day last season.

Things have not started any better for them this time around, as they are only one point above the relegation zone, having lost seven of their opening 13 games.

If results go against them at the weekend, then they could end up in the bottom three, which is sure to pile even more pressure on under-fire manager Steve McClaren.

The manner of their two most recent defeats have also not helped their cause as they were thumped 3-0 by fierce rivals Sunderland and were beaten by the same scoreline by Leicester City at home last weekend.

Recent form: WLDWL

Team News

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Crystal Palace are set to be without the injured Dwight Gayle once again, while Kwesi Appiah is suffering from a hamstring problem.

The Eagles could also be missing Bakery Sako, who headed off injured during the club's defeat to Sunderland on Monday.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have an extensive injury list, with Jack Colback, Gabriel Obertan, Steven Taylor and Tim Krul among those ruled out of action.

Cheick Tiote is also a doubt after picking up an injury against Leicester, but Massadio Haidara could return after his recent absence.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup: Hennessey, Ward, Delaney, Dann, Souare, Cabaye, McArthur, Puncheon, Zaha, Bolasie, Wickham

Newcastle United possible starting lineup: Elliot, Janmaat, Coloccini, Mbemba, Haidara, Sissoko, Anita, Tiote, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic

Head To Head

Palace have not won any of the previous 11 meetings between the two teams, with their last victory over Newcastle coming 17 years ago.

That 2-1 victory in 1998 is their only triumph against the Magpies in the Premier League, and they have beaten this weekend's opponents just eight times in their history.

Video Preview

Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:

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We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle United

Newcastle are in desperate need of a win to revive their season, but they will find it hard against a well-organised Palace outfit at Selhurst Park. However, the Eagles do not have the best home record, and it could play into the visitors' hands, which is why we think the match will end on level terms.