Newcastle United host Crystal Palace in the Premier League this afternoon.
Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Newcastle United will beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at St. James’ Park this afternoon.
Hosts Newcastle picked up a 2-2 draw away at Southampton last Sunday, but will be a little frustrated to have only claimed a point, having led twice through goals from Isaac Hayden and Ayoze Perez.
Newcastle have though lost just one of the last six Premier League games, and appear to have adjusted to life in the top flight having initially struggled in their first two games of the season.
Rafael Benitez will be hoping to build on two draws in a row with a home win against Crystal Palace today, even after the Eagles beat Chelsea 2-1 last weekend.
Roy Hodgson’s men hadn’t notched a point or a goal before facing champions Chelsea at Selhurst Park, but the return of Wilfried Zaha sparked a remarkable display from Hodgson’s men as they claimed an unexpected three points.
Now, the challenge facing Hodgson and co is to head on the road and claim another positive result, as they look to move away from the relegation zone and up the Premier League table after a dismal start to the season.
However, pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Palace will struggle to follow up last week’s win with another points haul, as he is backing Newcastle to claim a 2-1 home win this afternoon.
Lawrenson believes that Newcastle are settling into life in the Premier League, and he was very impressed with their display against Southampton, whilst suggesting that Palace and Hodgson are still ‘a little behind’ Newcastle and Benitez right now.
“Palace finally got off the mark by beating Chelsea last week and you could see in that game the effect Roy Hodgson has had on the players on the training ground,” said Lawrenson. “The Eagles were also buoyed by Wilfried Zaha returning from injury and being extremely lively, as well as scoring the winner. Now there will be an expectation that they go to St James’ Park and get another positive result, but I think this is an extremely difficult game for them.”
“Newcastle should really have seen out their game against Southampton last week. They had to settle for one point instead of three, but I was still very impressed by them. Of the three promoted teams, they are starting to look the most comfortable and – surprise, surprise – they have got a manager who is extremely experienced in the Premier League. Magpies boss Rafael Benitez moulds teams and makes the best out of the players he has got, which is why he is getting some good results. Hodgson follows a similar template, in that he organises his side and makes them hard to beat, but he has only just taken over so he is obviously a little bit behind Benitez in terms of where his side are at the moment,” he added.
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