Two teams struggling for Premier League consistency do battle at Selhurst Park in Friday night’s kick off as Crystal Palace host Newcastle United.
Selhurst Park has not been a happy hunting ground for Newcastle in recent times, with the Magpies without a victory at Crystal Palace in their previous five Premier League visits.
As for the Eagles, Friday night football has not been kind to them, having failed to win any of their last 12 top flight fixtures played on a Friday.
Crystal Palace head in to the encounter two points better off than their opponents, yet similarly to Newcastle struggling to find consistent Premier League form.
Toon boss Steve Bruce is drawing criticism from sections of the Newcastle fan base due to the perceived negative nature of the football, with a poor performance against Crystal Palace likely to intensify the scrutiny.
Roy Hodgson meanwhile is out of contract at Crystal Palace in the summer and many Eagles supporters are interested to see the direction the club takes from a managerial perspective when that time comes.
Palace were without Wilfried Zaha in their last Premier League game, a 1-0 loss at Burnley on Monday night, with the Ivorian testing positive for coronavirus and having to withdraw from the squad. It is likely Zaha will sit out this match too.
That leaves Hodgson likely to call upon summer signing Ebere Eze against Newcastle to deputise, although Eze may play further forward with Jeff Schlupp back in contention.
Newcastle are sweating on the fitness of Jamaal Lascelles after limping off in the defeat to Chelsea last time out, with the defender rated touch-and-go to feature.
A big boost for the Magpies though is the potential return of striker Callum Wilson, who remains the club’s top scorer this season with 6 goals.
Crystal Palace v Newcastle is an 8pm kick off on Friday 27 November.
