Newcastle United head to Crystal Palace fourth in The Premier League looking to keep their upward momentum going with another win after a last-gasp winner by record signing Alexander Isak saw off a determined Fulham side at St James' Park last week:

After giving away a penalty with the score still 0-0, Newcastle experienced a stroke of fortune when former Magpie Aleksandar Mitrovic slipped and double-kicked the ball meaning his successful spot kick was disallowed and late substitute Isak was in the right place at the right time to nod Newcastle's winner in front of The Gallowgate End.

Eddie Howe's introduction of attacking subs - Allan Saint-Maximin, Jacob Murphy and Isak changed the game as Newcastle threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Fulham and reaped late rewards with Isak playing in a slightly deeper role behind Callum Wilson with a licence to roam wide and dribble but was crucially in the box when it mattered but the first half loss of Bruno Guimaraes to an ankle injury was a negative for The Magpies.

Saint-Maximin, who replaced the Brazil international at half-time, paid tribute to Newcastle's Swedish goalscoring hero but recognised that the loss of Guimaraes even for just weeks not months as was initially suspected is a blow:

Despite a lay-off through an injury of his own, the French wizard of the dribble is still completing more take-ons than any other player in The Premier League this season:

..and any nonsense rumours of a rift with Eddie Howe have been quickly put to bed despite people falling over themselves like defenders in the wake of The Saint on the pitch to conjure misleading headlines out of the slightest thing:

That's good news for Newcastle and bad news for The Premier League as Howe's Magpies have soared to 4th place in the top flight and into The Semi-Final of The Carabao Cup largely without their talisman of past seasons and along with the return of Isak, their twin presence doubles the threat Newcastle pose to other teams especially against sides who aim to park the bus at St James' Park & even their own stadiums.

Newcastle are yet to make a signing this January transfer window but the imminent departure of Chris Wood to Nottingham Forest on loan plus the club's return into the Top 20 Deloitte Money League of the world's richest clubs mean The Magpies are well-poised for a late swoop in the transfer market as they did last season to capture Dan Burn, Matt Target & Bruno Guimaraes late on and Eddie Howe has always indicated Newcastle will do the same this time around depending on the injury situation with a central midfielder looking a priority following injuries to Guimaraes & JonJo Shelvey.

Chris Wood's departure would free up a big wage from the Newcastle books and allow the club some wiggle-room in terms of Financial Fair Play to recruit another top gun from world football to fire The Magpies' Champions League charge & Carabao Cup bid.

The club have been linked with almost everybody in football since the #NUFC Takeover finally went through and the latest links are with Marcus Thuram from Borussia Monchengladbach but a return to attempting to sign Benfica's Goncalo Ramos, who scored against The Magpies in a pre-season friendly before that wonderful World Cup hat-trick for Portugal could be a strong possibility as like the Mountie, the Toon always get their man eventually a la Botman:

After Man City's 4-2 victory over Spurs at The Etihad on Thursday night, a win against Crystal Palace means The Magpies would enjoy an 8-point gap over the London club who are in 5th place in The Premier League cementing a Champions League slot.

Patrick Vieira's Eagles are in 12th position in The Premier League table at the halfway point after Michael Olise's stunning free-kick in the dying minutes against Man United rescued a first point for Palace in 2023 after three consecutive defeats, two in the Premier League to Spurs and Chelsea and a loss to Southampton in The FA Cup:

Firmly rooted in mid-table is not an ideal place for the ambitious Vieira who as a player was used to more rarefied heights notably with Arsenal's invincible Double winners in The Premier League yet while he is cutting his managerial teeth, the French coach will have to show what he can do with less resources than he would like.

Its the third-time that The Magpies and Eagles have met this season with Newcastle victorious 3-2 on a penalties in The Carabao Cup after an instantly forgettable 0-0 draw at St James' Park when Nick Pope proved the goalkeeping hero:

...and that was after the extremely controversial 0-0 draw in The Premier League in early September when VAR Lee Mason stepped into to disallow Joe Willock's goal in the second half for a foul on the goalkeeper when replays clearly showed Willock was pushed in the back by Palace defender Gueye:

The controversy didn't end there for Mason - after being stood down by The Premier League for a week due to his 'mistake' - who it emerged was responsible for 3 of the 6 incorrect VAR interventions that The Premier League admitted making in the first section of The Premier League season up to The World Cup in Qatar:

Yet somehow despite being responsible for 50% of the VAR admitted errors, Mason is still officiating but thankfully hasn't been given another Newcastle game since and its emerged Stuart Atwell will take charge of Newcastle's Semi-Final clash vs Southampton First Leg, the same referee who was in charge when Newcastle won 4-1 in the Prem:

Eddie Howe began his pre-match presser talking about the subject on every Newcastle fans mind - the well-being of Bruno Guimaraes and the Magpies manager said the Brazilian is making good progress:

...paid tribute to outgoing striker Chris Wood and gave a strong hint that the New Zealand forward would be instantly replaced or would leave Newcastle 'short':

and waxed lyrical about Alexander Isak who scored Newcastle's winner:

With Isak still returning from injury, I'd expect Allan Saint-Maximin who played 45 minutes last week to start the game at Palace on the left side of attack with Joelinton moving back into centre-midfield to replace the injured Bruno alongside Sean Longstaff yet apart from that an unchanged team that will see Newcastle march on victorious although Eddie Howe will be taking nothing for granted:

Prediction - Newcastle 2 Crystal Palace 0

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