Newcastle v Crystal Palace preview ahead of this St James’ Park clash

Welcome to the Newcastle v Crystal Palace preview.

Sunday 4th January 2026 and a 3pm kick-off.

Newcastle United ring in the new year by hosting Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, hoping the next twelve months bring more glad tidings, having finally won a major trophy in 2025.

Despite an inconsistent league campaign so far, 2026 has the potential to be very exciting indeed, with NUFC looking to defend their League Cup title, have a crack at the FA Cup, qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and climb the Premier League table all within the space of a few months.

It’s that last ambition that will be taking priority over the weekend, as the Toon hope to record back-to-back league wins for just the second time all season.

Form

Newcastle have really struggled to put a run of decent form together so far this season and our last six league matches have seen two wins, two draws and two defeats. Wins have come home and away against Burnley, whereas draws came in frustrating circumstances against Spurs and Chelsea. We were unlucky to lose to Man United and never showed up against the Mackems, both in 1-0 defeats. We’ve scored nine goals in these games and conceded eight. We sit thirteenth in the league but a win could see us as high as seventh should results go our way.

Palace have won two, drawn one and lost three of their past six matches, though have gained only a point from their last four when they drew with Fulham. They’ve lost to Spurs, Leeds and Man City and beaten both Fulham and Burnley. A quirk in the fixture list seeing teams play each other twice in the space of just a few weeks. They’ve scored five goals in these matches and conceded ten. The seven points gained has them eleventh in the league with a win potentially rocketing them up to fifth on goal difference.

Last time out

Newcastle travelled to Burnley on Tuesday night and enjoyed a 3-1 victory, having stormed into a two-goal lead inside six minutes. The game was only sixty-six seconds in, when Joelinton marked his return from injury with a fine effort hooked into the corner past former Toon ‘keeper Dubravka. A rout looked on the cards just a few minutes later when Wissa bundled home on his first league start.

Unfortunately, this was the cue for United to sit back and allow Burnley a foothold In the game when sustained pressure from the home team reduced the arrears, meaning we went into the break 2-1 up. The second half was a tense affair, both teams having an effort cleared off the line and Burnley hitting the crossbar with Pope well beaten. Thankfully the points were secured in injury time when double-agent Dubravka made a hash of a routine clearance and Bruno took full advantage to lift the ball from distance into an unguarded net.

Crystal Palace hosted Fulham on new year’s day and were disappointed when their half-time lead was cancelled out by a late equaliser on a frustrating night that forced them to settle for a point.

Stat attack!

-Newcastle have won six of their past seven home matches with Crystal Palace in all competitions.

-Palace have failed to find the net in their last five visits to St James’ Park.

-The Toon have netted nine goals in their past two home matches with Palace. A 4-0 victory in 23/24 was followed up with a 5-0 win last season. A 6-0 win this Sunday would go down very nicely indeed!

Memorable match

In December 2019, Steve Bruce’s NUFC were in the process of putting a difficult start to the season behind them and picking up points that were beginning to ease relegation worries. The last match before Christmas saw Crystal Palace roll into town on the back of a four-match unbeaten run.

Popular midfielder Miggy Almiron was back in the starting line-up after a minor injury had kept him out of the previous match and all eyes were on him as he looked to score his first goal for the club despite joining us eleven months previously. The match itself was a fairly drab encounter but was memorable for one moment of magic that almost brought the house down. With just seven minutes to go and the game goalless, a cross into the box was knocked down by Andy Carroll and caught sweetly on the half-volley by Almiron to send the ball into the top corner and the fans into raptures! Miggy ripped his shirt off and sprinted towards the crowd in a show of ecstasy on an afternoon where the Paraguayan’s wildly-celebrated first for the club proved to be the winner and sent Toon fans home full of festive cheer! Newcastle 1-0 Crystal Palace.

Played for both

Shola Ameobi was something of a cult figure during an eventful fourteen year stay at NUFC. Highlights include an incredible seven derby strikes, a number of European goals (including Champions League strikes away at Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen) and a spectacular goal in a 2-1 win over Chelsea when he controlled the ball on his chest and fired an effort into the bottom corner on the turn. Despite this, he was a frustrating character for much of his time on Tyneside with fans lamenting unfulfilled potential and a lack of consistency in front of goal. He played four times on loan for Palace in 2015 without finding the net.

Yohan Cabaye signed for Alan Pardew in 2011 and enjoyed a fine first season in black and white, scoring a number of spectacular goals, including a winner against Wigan and incredible free-kicks against both Blackburn and Man United, as NUFC finished fifth in the league. The next season saw a dip in form for the whole team but Cabaye still managed eye-catching goals away in successive matches at the Mackems and Liverpool. He played half of the 13/14 season before signing for PSG in January 2014. Despite the circumstances of his move being slightly messy, he had enjoyed some success that season, scoring twice in a 3-1 win at West Ham and becoming the first Newcastle player to score the winning goal in a league match at Old Trafford for forty-one years. He signed for Crystal Palace in 2015 and scored nine goals in ninety-six league appearances. He also missed a penalty against Newcastle in 2016.

Andros Townsend signed for Newcastle in 2016 and scored four goals in our fruitless attempt at avoiding relegation. The highlight of his time at NUFC was actually against Crystal Palace when he blasted home a free-kick on a day when Karl Darlow saved a penalty from Cabaye (see above) in a 1-0 win, when it looked like we might pull off the great escape from the dreaded drop. He left the club following relegation, signed for Palace and played there for five years scoring thirteen goals in one hundred and sixty-eight league appearances.

Managers

Eddie Howe after a 3-1 win away at Burnley:

“It was a massive win for us. I don’t think it really matters tonight so much in terms of how we did it, we just needed to do it. It was a really strong start from us, in recognition of how important the game was. I can’t praise the players enough for how we battled through. It was never going to be easy tonight. That second half was a massive forty-five minutes, we needed to get over the line and full credit to the players for how they saw the game out and the character of the group. I think we’ve been close before. In my opinion, we’re moving in the right direction in terms of level of performance. I think over time, if you continue to play well – I thought Manchester United was a case in point, I don’t think we played badly, we had chances to get something from the game but didn’t take them – then over time, you will win games with the quality of players we have.”

Oliver Glasner after a 1-1 draw at home to Fulham:

“Two big chances and incredible saves from Henderson. We are in survival mode right now. As long as the legs did what we wanted them to do we were ok. We didn’t give them a lot, we created and scored a nice goal. Then it was a question of time to concede, the pressure increased and we couldn’t release from it. I have huge appreciation from the players, I can see their effort. We have so many games and the squad is quite short of numbers, but they give everything they have. I know these players will give their best in every single game.”

Charity

Newcastle United fans food bank will once again be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end and gratefully receiving food, money and toiletries for those in need. Of particular interest are non-perishable food and drink items (such as noodles, pasta, rice, canned food, soup, cereal, cordial, long life milk etc) as well as toiletries such as shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and sanitary products. Please give whatever you can, any donation is very much appreciated.

For further info and/or to donate online go to Newcastle Foodbank

Prediction

This meeting of the current holders of the FA and League Cups has the potential to be massive for both sides who really need three points. I’m feeling confident ahead of this one and fancy a resounding win for NUFC. Joelinton looked back to his best against Burnley and I can see him scoring in another belting performance here. Newcastle 3-0 Crystal Palace.