Palace v Newcastle United

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Dean Moxey

Story so far

An inspired Crystal Palace were desperately unlucky not to get something from their game against Chelsea last weekend, as they fell to an eventual 2-1 defeat. Epitomised by the seemingly rejuvenated Marouane Chamakh, Palace forced Petr Cech into multiple saves. Tony Pulis will be looking for them to capitalise on this new found momentum when they welcome Newcastle this weekend.

Marouane Chamakh has been enjoying the form of Premier League career in recent weeks, stringing together a series of excellent performance following the arrival of Tony Pulis. He now has by far the best shot accuracy rate of any player in the Palace squad, with 71.4% of his total attempts this season testing the ‘keeper. Chamakh is an industry best 14/5 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

His strike partner Cameron Jerome is also rising in the statistics stakes this season and many Palace fans will be hoping that he and Chamakh can combine for continuing success this season. Jerome now had 11 attempts on goal to his name, the third highest in the Palace squad, with 54.5% of them testing the ‘keeper.

Damien Delaney continues to turn in some exceptional defensive performances this season, something that will no doubt please new boss Tony Pulis who knows a good defender when he sees one. Delaney currently ranks third on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for total defensive contributions (blocks, clearances, interceptions, tackles won) with 208 this term.

Captain Mile Jedinak has won an excellent 74.1% of his 81 attempted challenges this season, marking him out as the main enforcer in the Eagles midfield. He has, however, also given away 26 fouls, a squad-high and must be mindful of his technique moving forward if he’s not to incur any bans.

Newcastle held Southampton to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park last weekend, with Yoan Gouffran displaying good reactions to put the Magpies in front before Jay Rodriguez’s equaliser.

Loic Remy’s ability to carve out scoring attempts has been key for the Magpies this season, the Frenchman demonstrating great movement and an eye for a gap. He currently leads the Newcastle squad for attempts on goal according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 30 to his name. Remy is 16/11 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.

Countryman Mathieu Debuchy remains Newcastle’s most effective defender this term, compiling some highly impressive statistics. He’s won an excellent 82.8% of his 58 attempted challenges this season.

Moussa Sissoko reached a personal landmark last weekend, one which demonstrates the level of influence he has from the Newcastle engine room. Against Southampton became the first Newcastle player this season to surpass the 300 barrier for passes completed in the opponent’s half, his total now sitting on 301.

To complement this Sissoko also has the distinction of being one of the leaders in the Newcastle squad for total attacking contributions (shots on goal, dribbles, crosses, assists). The Frenchman has racked up 53 according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Team news

Crystal Palace defender Dean Moxey has recovered from a hamstring injury and is now available. But manager Tony Pulis may decide to stick with Joel Ward in the left-back slot and Adrian Mariappa on the right. Midfield duo STUART O'Keefe, Jonny Williams and Kagisho Dikgacoi face late fitness tests.

Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye is available after completing his suspension. It means Magpies boss Alan Pardew has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Palace: Speroni, Price, Ward, Gabbidon, Delaney, Mariappa, Moxey, Puncheon, Kebe, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Bannan, O'Keefe, Bolasie, Gayle, Chamakh, Jerome, Phillips.

Newcastle: Krul, Elliot, Debuchy, Coloccini, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, S. TAYLOR, Santon, Dummett, Haidara, Tiote, Anita, Cabaye, Marveaux, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, Gutierrez, Sammy Ameobi, Bigirimana, Obertan, Cisse, Remy, Gouffran, Shola Ameobi.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"I think Newcastle had a struggle before the window opened anyway, there was lots of other stuff going on. I think European football caught them out and that has been proved this season with them not being in Europe. Two years ago they weren’t and they had a great season and they are following it up this year by not being in the Europa League. That is the main reason they struggled last year.

"They are top-six club. They have invested very heavily in the French market over the past few years, they have got some top, top players and Remy has brought them what Demba Ba gave them before he left, that cutting edge.

"We will be playing a really good team and a top club in Newcastle United. They have got a very good manager and some outstanding players and their record over the past few months has been exceptional.

"Their away performances have been good so we know how tough it is going to be, we have to be really on it to get anything out of the game."

Danny Gabbidon

"We looked at our recent run as a block of five games and had targets, everyone looks at the Christmas period as a similar thing. If you can pick up two or three wins it can really push you on for the rest of the season. I think we have done well the last couple of weeks and got ourselves back in to a much better position.

"If we can go through the Christmas period and pick up a few points then we are well on our way and maybe can be looking at getting up towards the mid-table region.

"We are learning and improving all of the time with every game and confidence is getting better and better with each game. Every manager is different and I think on the pitch you can see that we are putting in a lot more hard work.

"The manager wants us working hard as a team and it isn't about the individuals. Everyone needs to put a shift in and look at helping each other and do their own job and I think you can see that since he came in to the club.

"We have put a lot of work in on the training ground with our shape and organisation and that goes a long way in this league. If you can be organised and keep yourself in games and make yourself hard to beat and pick up one point when you can't get three then it all helps.

"It has been a tough couple of weeks, the intensity in training and the work rate has got up a lot so we are trying to adjust to that as well but everyone has been doing really well."

Barry Bannan

“Newcastle are doing well and they are a good team. They had a slow start, but they have picked up and now they are flying. They will be confident coming to us, but we will be confident too having won a few games ourselves.

“At home you are expected to win games and with our fans and the way they have been, it is hard for any team. We are looking forward to the game on Saturday and hopefully we can get another good result.”

Alan Pardew

"I wouldn’t swap the way my [playing] career evolved, if I am honest. I gained great experience in that non-league of how to win games and the grind of non-league football, working and then really coming to the professional world and thinking, ‘Well, this is an easy life’.

"But it isn’t that easy after a while. It took me a while to break in [at Palace], but when I broke in, I was lucky to have two great strikers in the team and we had a great run.

"We reached the cup final and finished third in the league the last year I was year. It was a phenomenal team that Steve [Coppell] put together there.”

Newcastle United - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
6th	16	8	3	5	27

Full league table

Newcastle United - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	5	1	2	10	8

Full form table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
27/01/2010	League	Newcastle United	2 - 0	Crystal Palace
22/08/2009	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Newcastle United
30/04/2005	League	Newcastle United	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
20/11/2004	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Newcastle United
05/01/2002	FA Cup	Newcastle United	2 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

Last meeting

Newcastle United 2-0 Palace

Wednesday January 27 2010

Newcastle United: Harper, Coloccini, Jose Enrique (Pancrate 25), Williamson, Kadar, Nolan, Guthrie, Gutierrez (Ranger 73), Lovenkrands (Routledge 62), Smith, Carroll

Subs not used: Krul, Tozer, Butt, Donaldson

Goals: Derry (og) 20, Ranger 90

Bookings: Coloccini, Smith

Palace: Speroni, Clyne, Hill, Hills (Djilali 75), Butterfield, Ertl (Lawrence 4), Derry,
Ambrose, Danns, Carle (Lee 82), Andrew

Bookings: Butterfield