‘This smells’ - Experts leaning towards bold Eddie Howe prediction at Newcastle United

The pundits believe Newcastle United will get a result at Crystal Palace this weekend. While only one of three surveyed backed a Toon win, none expect the Magpies to taste defeat to a London outfit for the second time this week.

Eddie Howe’s men travel to Selhurst Park later today aiming to bounce back from Monday’s home defeat to West Ham United. A win against the Hammers would have lifted Newcastle to sixth after 12 games.

Instead, they currently sit 10th and another setback in the capital could sound alarm bells for the St James’ Park hierarchy. NewcastleWorld has profiled how the experts think the game will pan out ahead of the clash.

Chris Sutton

“Crystal Palace have still only won one league game all season, against Tottenham at the end of October,” he told BBC Sport. “The Eagles got a good point at Aston Villa last weekend but their manager Oliver Glasner definitely needs more than that to provide some early Christmas cheer.

I am not sure Glasner will get much joy here, though. Although I did not expect Newcastle to lose at home to West Ham on Monday, I would not be surprised to see them bounce back. This smells of a draw to me, because I do not see Newcastle losing.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle

Paul Merson

“When you talk about results from last weekend, the one that I did not see coming was Newcastle losing to West Ham,” he wrote in his SportsKeeda column. “I was expecting them to turn up and win easily. That is a really bad loss for Newcastle in my opinion.

“It baffles me how they ended up losing to that West Ham team! They (Newcastle) now face Crystal Palace, who I thought were really good away from home against Aston Villa last time out.

“They looked like a serious threat on the counter and used pace to their advantage. You could say Palace rode their luck at times in that game, but so did Villa. Palace are 19th at the moment and will now face an uphill battle to avoid relegation.

“Southampton are the only team with fewer goals than them this season, so that’s an area where they must improve if they want to survive in this division. I can definitely see Newcastle scoring in this game, but I have a feeling Palace can match them.”

Prediction: Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle 2

He told Paddy Power: “Newcastle lost to West Ham and Crystal Palace drew with Aston Villa last time. I fancy Newcastle to bounce back here though.”

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Newcastle