BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson expects narrow margins will define Newcastle United’s Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Steve Bruce’s Toon travel to London for the second successive week looking to bounce back from defeat at Arsenal, where dropping points meant the club remained only seven points clear of the bottom three.
Crystal Palace have plummeted down the table in recent weeks to find themselves below the Magpies by a sole point, having lost three in a row after taking four consecutive draws.
Victory for Newcastle the last time these two sides met also plays into the Tyneside outfit’s more favourable league position, after Miguel Almiron fired home in the 83rd-minute to ensure all three points remained at St. James’ Park.
Roy Hodgson’s visiting Eagles had boasted more possession (57.5%) and fashioned more shots (16 to eight) that December afternoon, per WhoScored data, but four saves from Martin Dubravka denied Palace before Almiron would beat Vicente Guaita.
Lawrenson expects this weekend’s match to be a similarly close affair, as both Hodgson and Bruce are well aware of what it takes to be defensive in the Premier League.
“After drawing four league games in a row, Crystal Palace are now on a run of three straight defeats, but I always feel they are capable of a good result no matter what kind of form they are in,” Lawrenson noted in his column for BBC Sport.
What will the result be vs Crystal Palace?
Win
Draw
Loss
“Newcastle have also slid back down towards the relegation zone recently, but I don’t think they have to worry too much about being dragged into the dogfight at the bottom either.
“There are definitely similarities between these two teams because, although neither scores many, both managers know how to defend so they will always pick up points.
“Palace are actually the lowest scorers in the Premier League with 23 in 26 games, one less than Newcastle, but it is the Eagles who I think will come out on top here.”
Lawrenson has predicted a 2-0 win for Palace in our Premier League encounter at Selhurst Park this Saturday, despite his expectation of events being close, which would be the eighth time this season that Hodgson’s side have scored two goals in a single match (five wins, two draws).
Palace are yet to score more than two goals in a game this league season, and have only conceded more than twice in two games – a 3-1 defeat to Everton last time out and a 4-0 thrashing at Tottenham back in September.
We are hardly prolific ourselves, with Bruce’s men able to score twice in five league games and three times in one – a 3-2 win over West Ham back in November. Though we are easier to score against in large quantities with the Toon beaten twice in four games, three times in two, four times in two and five in one.
Arsenal were the most recent side to put multiple goals past us with a 4-0 win, while goalkeeper Dubravka has only kept three clean sheets in his last ten league outings.
In other Newcastle United news, the club have reportedly finalised deals with a £24m duo pending official confirmation.