The Barclays Premier League
Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace, St James’ Park, Kick Off 1500
Newcastle: Krul; Yanga-Mbiwa, Williamson, Coloccini, Dummett; Sissoko, Anita, Tioté, Gouffran; de Jong, Cisse.
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Bolasie, Ledley, Puncheon, Jerome.
Newcastle will welcome back Hatem Ben Arfa to the squad after 3 games out, but top scorer Loic Remy misses out. Newcastle haven’t had the best results in 2014 but they are in a comfortable position after a really good first half of the campaign. But with the leading pack miles ahead in the distance, Alan Pardew will be earning his wages keeping these guys hungry and motivated for the rest of the season. And of course the drama of Pardew’s recent moment of madness is still dying down. There is never a dull day at Newcastle.
As for Crystal Palace the introduction of Tony Pulis as manager has given the club genuine hope of retaining their Premier League status this time around. They only came up this season and looked hopelessly out of their depth until the ex-Stoke manager came in and used all of his experience to steer the club back in the right direction. They are still sitting in a precarious 17th position, three points off the drop zone, but having played 2 more games than 18th placed Sunderland.
Follow us on Twitter @soccersweep10
