Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace Prediction & Match Preview

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace
England – Premier League
Date: Saturday, 21 December 2019
Kick-off at 15:00 UK/ 16:00 CET
Venue: St. James Park (Newcastle).

Newcastle are slowly trying to turn around their season with some consistent performances. Home advantage has really been something the team has been counting on. However, the arrival of the overtly defensive Crystal Palace could surely pose some problems for the hosts this weekend.

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace Head-to-head (h2h)

• The last five matches had under 2.5 goals.
• The last time these two met, Crystal Palace won 0-1 on the road.
• Newcastle have not scored against this opponent in the previous two encounters.
• Since 2000, only one meeting at this venue has had over 2.5 match goals.
• In the past two decades, Crystal Palace have managed a total of one win at this ground.

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace Match Preview

Momentum is a sacred thing for these teams in the Premier League. It could make or break their seasons, and as a result, it needs to be dealt with carefully.

As things stand, Newcastle have made it a habit to perform well in front of the home crowd, and they will be keen to hold on to the trend.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace have been putting forth impressive defensive displays week in, week out. While it certainly have reduced their number of goals scored, it has kept a limit on the number of goals conceded too.

The teams would find no reason to deviate from this set, and familiar path.

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace Prediction

Newcastle were on the road the last match-day, and had locked horns with Burnley. The former did try their best to overcome the away handicap, but had to succumb at the end to a 1-0 loss.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace had played hosts to Brighton the previous game week. As has been the case for a Palace game, goals were few in number, and spoils were shared at the end of the fixture with a 1-1 scoreline.

This weekend, home advantage will play a big role in determining the outcome of the game. The prime reason being – the impressive form Newcastle have been showing at the St. James Park the past several weeks.

To quote a stat, the team has lost just once this whole season at this stadium, and it had come against Arsenal. In the process, Newcastle managed to stay unbeaten against the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Leicester etc.

On top of that, Crystal Palace have a total of three wins on the road this campaign, and importantly, the team have recorded a single h2h win away from home since 1999. Keep note that, in the same time, Newcastle had won six of the preceding nine such encounters at this venue.

In addition, considering overall h2h meetings, Palace have two wins to show for, since 1999, while their opposite number boasts of even a four-game winning streak this decade in such fixtures.

Considering these observations, count on the home team, Newcastle to emerge victorious with the help of the handicap.

Going on, Crystal Palace may be on the backfoot this Saturday, but do take into consideration their defensive prowess. Their goalkeeper Vicente Guaita is second in the list for most clean sheets this season, just one behind Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel.

Even just the last match-day, Guaita was on the headlines for making an impressive nine saves in a single game. On top of that, the likes of defender Martin Kelly combine well with the keeper to meticulously prevent their team from conceding.

To quote a stat, Palace have conceded a total of one goal from their previous four match-ups, and kept clean sheets in their last two on the road.

Most importantly, the last five h2h meetings failed to have more than two goals, and in the past two decades, only one face-to-face encounter at this venue have had such a stat.

Taking into consideration all these findings, it’s extremely unlikely that the upcoming match-up will have a total of more than two goals.

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips

• Under 2.5 Match Goals @ 1.60 (3/5)

• Newcastle United 0, +0.5 Asian Handicap @ 1.50 (1/2).