Patrick Vieira takes his Crystal Palace side to Newcastle tonight in a bid to get their Premier League top-half ambitions back on track at St James' Park.
The Eagles lost last time out in the league away at Leicester and are now sit 13th in the table ahead of tonight's fixture against the Magpies. Victory on Tyneside would propel Palace back into the top half while also seeing the side reach the 40-point mark with six matches left to play.
Vieira said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that he would be looking for a response from his team after they lost their FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Sunday. He warned that he would not accept any drop-off in form or application against Newcastle and said he'd learn a lot about his side by paying close attention to how they performed.
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He also said he had plans to freshen his starting XI with the game coming so close after Palace’s trip to Wembley. Vieira was unable to name a full-strength side against the Blues with Conor Gallagher ineligible for the fixture and Michael Olise limited to a cameo off the bench after returning from a foot injury in the build-up to the game.
The first change likely to be made will be with the formation, with Vieira opting for a 5-3-2 against Chelsea but now likely to opt back to the more familiar 4-3-3 against Newcastle. In goal, Vicente Guaita is expected to take his spot in between the sticks from Jack Butland after the Englishman started at Wembley, while Nathaniel Clyne, who was dropped in favour of Joel Ward against Chelsea, might be given a chance to impress again against the Magpies for freshness. Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen and Tyrick Mitchell should all start to complete the back four.
In midfield, Luka Milivojevic is unavailable and Will Hughes has been absent from the last two matchday squads due to injury, leaving Vieira slightly thin on options. James McArthur, Jeffrey Schlupp and Ebere Eze started against Chelsea in midfield though it’s likely that Conor Gallagher will return to the starting XI having not been allowed to play at Wembley.
McArthur and Schlupp could join Gallagher in midfield then, with Eze dropping to the bench after completing his first 90 minutes in almost a year against the Blues. Vieira said in his pre-match press conference that the midfielder was now back to full fitness after recovering from his Achilles injury sustained last May, adding that he would now feature more regularly for the Eagles in their final games of the season.
In attack, Wilfried Zaha should start on the left and Michael Olise on the right, granted the latter has come through any late fitness tests. Jean-Philippe Mateta was substituted seven minutes into the second half at Wembley and would have felt aggrieved to come off after having a good impact during the first period. As the striker in the best form, he should start against the Magpies.
Crystal Palace predicted XI: Guaita, Mitchell, Guehi, Andersen, Clyne, McArthur, Schlupp, Gallagher, Zaha, Mateta, Olise.
