Newcastle United open another Premier League weekend as they head to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace in the 8pm Amazon Prime Kick-Off, thanks to The Premier League's scrapping of Pay Per View Football which #NUFC Fans were instrumental in stopping after channelling boycott funds to The West End FoodBank as celebrated in World Soccer magazine where they were named in the Heroes section:

Just two points separate Newcastle and Palace on 11 & 13 pts respectively as veteran managers Steve Bruce and Roy Hodgson go head-to-head after both suffering losses last week with Chelsea beating Newcastle 2-0 and Burnley beating Palace 1-0.

Newcastle can go 10th above Man United with a victory while Palace can go 7th into the European places so it could go either way for two evenly-matched teams although Wilfried Zaha's absence through injury for Palace and the return of JonJo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie & Callum Wilson means advantage Newcastle.

Steve Bruce has been "under the pump" to use his own description from fans & critics in the media after back-to-back defeats to Southampton & Chelsea, somewhat unfairly considering a decent start to the season & a hard run of five games against five teams in The Top 10.

Bruce & opposite number Roy Hodgson afforded each other the respect expected for two veteran managers enjoying remarkable longevity in the game with Bruce saying:

"Roy's hugely respected by us all for what's he done and what he's achieved in his career and when you go to Crystal Palace now they're a good team with very good players."

and Hodgson paid back the tribute saying:

"We have a lot of respect for Newcastle, for Steve Bruce and the work he is doing there."

STAT'S NOT FOOTBALL! Over Analysis Leads To Modern Game Misanalysis

Bruce was keen to answer his critics in his presser on Friday especially those with an overemphasis on negative statistics and told the media via Zoom:

"Look you can look at the statistics as much as you want.
"Our defensive record is on par with Liverpool, yet we're the same as Sheffield United? (at the bottom based on stats).
"You can have all sorts of statistics.
"For me, we have not played well enough in the last two games.
"Against two very good teams, one, and I will be brutally honest, are miles better than us.
"However, I do understand we have conceded twice early and that set us back in both matches."

Its time to stop the growing Stat Attack culture. The need to be right and win arguments and prove other people wrong with ever more meaningless numbers has led to an unhealthy obsession with statistics on social media that has to be reined in, in order for football to retain the majesty and magic of the beautiful game which is perfect due to its simplicity as exemplified by the late, great Diego Maradona who made football fun:

I was getting ready for bed the other night when I received the following message about the imaginary failings of Newcastle United due to the newly-invented xG stats etc:

Why penalties are excluded from xG is beyond me as surely the opposition expected Newcastle to score hence why they hacked down an attacker for a penalty?

Yet if the desired effect was to bore me to sleep then it worked yet in the real world, Newcastle are the 14th highest scorers in the Premier League table where they are currently 15th yet can go joint 8th with a win on Friday night and also one of just 8 clubs from the 92 original entrants who entered The Carabao Cup competition remaining in The Quarter-Finals, so I dropped off to sleep dreaming of Wembley Stadium.

Compared to the first 9 games under his predecessor Rafa Benitez in the 2018/9 season - the worst start in the club's entire history - Bruce's Magpies are already flying this season with 11 points - 9 points more than in 2018/9 - and are 15th in the table not rock bottom as they were under Rafa and are still in The Carabao Cup, not out of it:

I read with glee the response of The Special One, Jose Mourinho, on Saturday night when questioned about the supposed control & possession of opponents Man City in the game that Spurs actually won 2-0 in the real world to send them top of The Premier League:

"They can take the ball home with them - I take the three points!"

Statistics in football don't always reveal the true picture of a beautiful game that isn't an exact science and can't always be quantified.

Crystal Palace and Newcastle find themselves at the foot of the ball possession table, for example, yet both sides are much higher in the actual Premier League table based on real results so like all stats, they have a role in the sport yet an over-reliance on them can mean people not being able to see the Forest of results for the minutiae of the xGs.

One great statistic that is undeniable is Newcastle fans raising £23,000 last month as part of our #CharityNotPPV protest invented by @ToonPolls and launched by the @NUFCFoodBank which we then helped coordinate into a national campaign involving all 20 Premier League fanbases which had the desired effect when PPV was scrapped which earned Newcastle fans a place in the Heroes column in World Soccer Magazine:

Every Toon fan will be hoping the team take their spirit of resistance and enterprise into the fixture at Selhurst Park with Bruce referencing the 4-1 win at Bournemouth in Project Restart as his preferred formation against the teams in and around Newcastle:

"Against Bournemouth (last season) away we played a 4-2-3-1 - that is my preferred way of playing but I do believe if I played that way against the big teams we'd get turned over."

Newcastle go ahead of Palace with a win so it could be a hint at the team on Friday with Sean Longstaff in an attacking number 10 role behind Callum Wilson, a central midfield of JonJo Shelvey & Isaac Hayden with Miggy Almiron & Allan St Maximum on the wings.

Organised Palace may put up more of a fight than Eddie Howe's Cherries did that night and summer signing Ebe Eze will do his best to make up for the Zaha-shaped hole in the attack but Newcastle should surprise & overwhelm their hosts by going for the jugular.

Prediction - Newcastle 3 Crystal Palace 1