Garth Crooks on why Crystal Palace will stay up but Newcastle United will struggle

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BBC Sport pundit named Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke in his Team of the Week after 3-0 win over Leicester City.

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks believes that Crystal Palace’s extra firepower will be the difference in their Premier League relegation fight this season.

The Eagles blew away in-form Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, with Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke both on the scoresheet and Andros Townsend supplying an assist in a 3-0 win.

Crooks feels that the aforementioned attacking trio give Palace an advantage over their relegation rivals and, ultimately, keep them clear of the drop.

He wrote in his BBC Sport Team of the Week column: “I have said before in this column that if Palace can get Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend all fit and on the field at the same time they can destroy any defence in the country. And we saw the first salvo of what this trio can do against Leicester.

“Palace’s defence responded, too, with a clean sheet. It must be really exciting to know you are in a team where if you can keep a clean sheet, you are almost certainly going to win. That is what Hodgson has at his disposal.

“Chris Hughton at Brighton, Paul Clement at Swansea and Rafa Benitez at Newcastle have nothing like that firepower. That is why Palace will stay up and the other clubs I have mentioned will spend the rest of the season fighting for their lives.”

After going a record seven top-flight games without scoring from the start of the season, Palace have now notched seven goals in their last three outings.

In the same period, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United and Swansea City have only managed three goals between them, which is why Crooks is fearful.

Palace’s return to the goal trail coincided with the return to fitness of Wilfried Zaha, whose six league matches out of the team this term have not yielded a single goal.

The Ivorian will continue to play a major role in Palace’s survival bid, but the club may have to be braced in January interest in the in-form winger from Chelsea, according to The Mirror.

January will also be key to Newcastle’s fortunes this season as Rafael Benitez waits on a potential takeover by Amanda Staveley – as The Guardian reports – which may give him extra funds for attacking reinforcements.