Having seen their marquee summer signing become embroiled in an unforeseen betting scandal, Newcastle United seek to banish such off-field demons when Crystal Palace visit St James' Park for a Premier League fixture on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides took a point from their most recent fixtures before the international hiatus, as the Magpies played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with West Ham United, while the Eagles and Nottingham Forest's goalless stalemate was a much more low-key affair.
Match preview
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Almost everything that could go right for Newcastle did go right in between the first two international breaks of the season; alongside their Premier League revival, both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were no match for Eddie Howe's troops at St James' Park in the EFL Cup and Champions League respectively.
A European hangover was evident at the London Stadium, though, as the Magpies fell behind against West Ham after just eight minutes courtesy of Tomas Soucek's strike, and an Alexander Isak brace would only proceed a dramatic 89th-minute leveller from Hammers new boy Mohammed Kudus.
A stress-free fortnight would have been on Howe's agenda while Newcastle's international crop donned their countries' colours, but the Magpies return to domestic duty having learned of Sandro Tonali's involvement in illegal betting - a transgression which Juventus' Nicolo Fagioli and Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo have also been indicted for.
While the St James' Park faithful are anxiously waiting to hear of a possible lengthy suspension for Tonali, Howe and co must push such distractions to the back of their mind as they endeavour to stretch their unbeaten streak across all tournaments to eight matches - an achievement of paramount importance before the visit of Borussia Dortmund next week.
The German giants could potentially be visiting a ground where Newcastle have prevailed in five successive fixtures, as Howe's men have won four on the spin at home since being bested by the 10 men of Liverpool, shipping just one goal in those 360 minutes of football.
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A moment of magic from centre-back Joachim Andersen saw Palace boss Roy Hodgson continue his stellar streak of results at Old Trafford last month, but with the Dane unable to replicate his feats against Nottingham Forest, there was very little excitement to be had a fortnight ago.
Morgan Gibbs-White's lobbed effort onto the post was the most noteworthy chance for either set of players in a dull draw, albeit one that kept Palace in the top half of the standings after eight games in the 2023-24 season; the Eagles are holding off Manchester United and Chelsea in ninth place for the time being.
Having failed to breach the Tricky Trees' rearguard last time out, a shot-shy Palace - who are missing Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise to no end - have just the one goal to show from their last four Premier League fixtures, albeit while also boasting three clean sheets in that time.
Nevertheless, each of Palace's four Premier League fixtures on the road this term has seen Hodgson's men score one goal, although one suspects that a solitary strike will not suffice at St James' Park, in spite of a recent low-scoring pattern between these two outfits.
Indeed, the last three meetings between Newcastle and Palace have all ended goalless after 90 minutes, although the Magpies won on penalties in an EFL Cup third-round tie last November and also edged an April 2022 encounter 1-0 at St James' Park thanks to Miguel Almiron's first-half winner.
Team News
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Juventus midfielder Fagioli has already been handed a seven-month ban for gambling on illegal platforms, and with Tonali apparently admitting to betting on AC Milan games while playing for the club, the Italy international - who pulled out of Azzurri duty when the allegations came to light - will likely be suspended for longer.
A maximum three-year sentence is unlikely to be handed down given Tonali's co-operation, and as things stand, the 23-year-old is available for Saturday's match, although whether he is in the right frame of mind to play is another matter entirely.
On a brighter note, Anthony Gordon will return from a one-game domestic ban, while all of Alexander Isak (knee), Joelinton (thigh) and Sven Botman (knee) might be ready to go again - the former is yet to train though - but Harvey Barnes (foot) and Joe Willock (calf) are both absent.
As mentioned, Palace remain without the services of their two key attacking threats in Eze and Olise, both of whom are yet to recover from thigh problems and form part of a double-figure injury list for the decimated visitors, who have also lost James Tomkins to a fresh calf problem.
Jeffrey Schlupp (knock) and Jairo Riedewald (adductor) were both casualties of the draw with Forest, where Dean Henderson and Nathan Ferguson missed out with their thigh issues, but all of Joel Ward (adductor), Matheus Franca (back), Naouirou Ahamada (ankle), Jefferson Lerma (thigh) and Cheick Doucoure (thigh) are in with chances of featuring.
Doucoure was an unexpected absentee from the meeting with Forest, having trained all week before being rendered unavailable, but the former Lens man should be given the green light to come back in this weekend.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Tonali, Guimaraes; Almiron, Wilson, Gordon
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Hughes, Doucoure, Lerma; Ayew, Mateta, Edouard
We say: Newcastle United 2-0 Crystal Palace
Even with the unwelcome distraction of Tonali's impending ban, Newcastle should have few problems returning to winning ways in front of their own fans, as Palace's attacking deficiencies are set to cost them dear once again.
Howe may avoid risking some of his injury doubts with the visit of Dortmund in mind, but the in-form Magpies have been a tough nut to crack at the back on home soil and ought to keep the Eagles quiet with relative ease en route to all three points.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
