Newcastle v Crystal Palace

Newcastle vs Crystal Palace Preview

Another top half clash in the English top flight features this Saturday afternoon up in the north-east as Newcastle United and Crystal Palace lock horns at St James' Park with both sides looking to make an impact upon the top five pack with all three points here and with both sides in good recent form, this should prove to be an entertaining affair.

Newcastle United began this new season with a bang when they thumped Aston Villa 5-1 at home on the opening day of the season with Eddie Howe's side seemingly proving that last season's fourth place finish was no fluke.

However, The Magpies were then handed three league defeats on the trot to Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton in what was a particularly tough sequence of fixtures, but the north-east club have managed to stage a recovery in recent times by putting together a solid four-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Three wins on the trot against the likes of Brentford 1-0, an 8-0 dismantling of Sheffield United and a 2-0 home win against Burnley were accompanied with a point gained in a 2-2 draw away from home at West Ham just before the international break.

Crystal Palace have made a solid start to their new Premier League campaign as The Eagles currently occupy a place in the top half of the table with the London club sitting in ninth place and Roy Hodgson's side will be keen to extend their unbeaten run in the top flight to four matches on Saturday afternoon.

The London visitors have been handed just the two defeats to date within their opening eight games overall, suffering losses against Arsenal and Aston Villa but wins picked up against Sheffield United, Wolves and most notably of all, a 1-0 win away at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

Palace were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Nottingham Forest just before the international break but The Eagles manager, Roy Hodgson, will be pleased that his side have kept clean sheets in each of their last three league games.

However, a much more open and attacking encounter is expected at St James' Park this Saturday against a rejuvenated Newcastle United outfit and Palace will more than likely need to match their hosts' attacking intent if they are to leave St James' Park with anything in their back pockets.

Newcastle United v Crystal Palace Verdict

Recent history suggests a low-scoring encounter here between Newcastle United and Crystal Palace as each of the last five meetings have resulted in Under 2.5 goals and the last three meetings on the trot have ended in 0-0 stalemates.

However, five of Newcastle's eight games to date have produced three goals or more, so goals could feature at last in this fixture this Saturday!

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw 4.33

Correct score: 2-2 @ 21.00