Newcastle will continue their push for Champions League football on Wednesday evening as they host Crystal Palace live on talkSPORT 2.
The Magpies are enjoying an incredible 2025 and since winning the Carabao Cup, they have won their last three Premier League games to sit fourth.
If Eddie Howe‘s men can beat Palace in their game-in-hand, they will jump above Nottingham Forest and take third.
The race for the Champions League is very tight, but the Toon are one of the in-form teams in Europe right now and will feel confident of getting the job done at St James’ Park.
Meanwhile, Palace will be looking to bounce back from their 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.
After taking a 2-0 lead at the Etihad, Oliver Glasner’s men brutally collapsed, but a win here would get their push for European football back on track.
Why is Newcastle vs Crystal Palace on Wednesday night?
This Premier League game was originally meant to take place on Saturday, March 15 at 3pm.
However, due to the Magpies’ involvement in the Carabao Cup final, in which they beat Liverpool 2-1, their league game had to be pushed back.
The Reds played their fixture against Aston Villa before the final, but the Toon’s match was moved to after.
It is now set to take place on Wednesday this week and will kick-off at 7:30pm.
talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage of the fixture, with Mark Wilson and former England international Danny Mills providing commentary.
The match will also be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League.
- Newcastle have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight Premier League home games against Crystal Palace, including each of the last three in a row.
- Crystal Palace have won just one of their last seven Premier League games against Newcastle (D4 L2), beating them 2-0 at Selhurst Park in April last year.
- In the reverse fixture between these two sides in November, Newcastle drew 1-1 at Selhurst Park despite having just one shot, with their goal a Marc Guéhi own goal. It was only the eighth instance on record (from 2003-04) of a side having one shot or fewer in a Premier League match and not losing that game.
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: On the mend
Newcastle have confirmed that manager Howe was in hospital with pneumonia, and he will now go through a period of recovery.
The Englishman checked into hospital on Friday evening after struggling with illness for a few days .
In a statement, he thanked the fans and the NHS.
He said: “A huge thank you to everyone connected with Newcastle United and the wider football community for your messages and warm wishes. They have meant a lot to me and my family.
“I also want to pay tribute to our incredible NHS and the hospital staff who have treated me. I’m immensely grateful for the specialist care I’m receiving and, after a period of recovery, I look forward to being back as soon as possible.”
As a result, Howe will miss this game and Aston Villa at the weekend.
- Since 14 December last year, Newcastle United have won more games in all competitions than any other Premier League side (18 in 23 games), while their 53 goals are behind only Liverpool (61) and Manchester City (58) in that time.
- Newcastle have lost just one of their last 12 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) home games in the Premier League (W8 D3), a 1-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day 2023. On Wednesday specifically, the Magpies have won five of their last six at St. James’ Park in the competition (D1).
- Crystal Palace have scored in each of their last 13 Premier League matches. Only twice in their top-flight history have they scored in 14 in a row, doing so between August and November 1979 and May and October 1991.
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: Team news
The Magpies now have Anthony Gordon back fully fit after a hip injury, and he will be pushing to start.
However, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy are expected to keep their places in the starting eleven after some stellar performances in recent weeks.
Joe Willock is also back from concussion, while Lewis Hall and Sven Botman remain out.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace will have Marc Guehi and Eddie Nketiah back from suspension.
Both players served one-game bans at the weekend for picking up two yellow cards each against Brighton.
Romain Esse and Matt Turner were ill at the weekend but are expected to be fit.
- In his managerial career, Newcastle’s Eddie Howe has won just five of his 21 games against Crystal Palace in all competitions (D9 L7), a win rate of 24%. Among all sides he has faced more than 10 times as a manager, only against Manchester City (5%), Liverpool (9%), and Watford (16%) does he have a poorer win ratio.
- Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes has been involved in nine goals in his last 11 Premier League starts (7 goals, 2 assists), including at least one in each of his last five (4 goals, 2 assists).
- Jacob Murphy has scored seven and assisted eight in his last 17 Premier League appearances for Newcastle United. With 10 open play assists overall in 2024-25, this is the most by a Magpies player since Laurent Robert assisted 11 in 2001-02.
- Eberechi Eze has had a hand in eight goals in his last 11 Premier League starts for Crystal Palace (2 goals, 6 assists). Eze’s had 89 shots this season, the most by a Palace player in a season since Christian Benteke in 2016-17 (105).
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace: What has been said?
Newcastle’s assistant manager Jason Tindall has confirmed that Howe is recovering.
He said: “He’s in the best possible hands and he’ll be back as soon as he feels he’s ready to come back.
“Your health is the most important thing, that’s why it’s so important that when he comes back he is able to lead the team as we know he does, which I’m sure he will do.”
