Newcastle United host Crystal Palace at St James' Park with both sides targeting a top-10 Premier League finish this season.
Both Newcastle and Palace have enjoyed positive starts to the 2019/20 campaign, with Palace sitting ninth on 23 points after 17 games.
The Magpies are just a point behind the Eagles in 11th place, and games like this could be the difference between the top-10 and a relegation battle with so many sides in and around the same points total heading towards Christmas.
Palace have scored the second-fewest goals in the top flight with just 15, but a tight defence has made them hard to beat - and that could set up a tense tie in the north east.
Premier League preview
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace
Venue: St James' Park
Date: Saturday, 21 December, 2019
Kick-off time: 3pm GMT
Prediction
Newcastle 1-1 Crystal Palace: Neither side has been prolific, but they have both done enough to avoid getting caught up in the scramble at the bottom of the table.
If there are any goals on Tyneside on Saturday, they could well come in the second half - and with Wilfried Zaha in form, Palace might feel they can nick another win.
Betting tips and odds via Betfair exchange
Match odds
- Newcastle to win: 6/4
- Draw: 11/5
- Palace to win: 12/5
| Scoreline | Newcastle win | Palace win | Draw |
| 1-0 | 13/2 | 9/1 | 0-0 (8/1) |
| 2-0 | 12/1 | 13/1 | 17/1 | 18/1 | 1-1 (6/1) |
| 2-1 | 10/1 | 11/1 | 12/1 | 13/1 | 2-2 (18/1) |
| 3-0 | 31/1 | 41/1 |
Odds provided by Betfair Exchange. Click here to place a bet. Odds correct as of December 19.
Tickets
For ticket information, click here to visit Newcastle's official website.
Palace away tickets are currently unavailable.
Team news
Palace's defensive issues continue with Mamadou Sakho suspended, while Gary Cahill and Joel Ward are both injured.
Patrick van Aanholt is a doubt so Jairo Riedewald could play at left-back again. Andros Townsend and Jeff Schlupp are also out.
Newcastle will be without Matt Ritchie, Allan Saint-Maximin, Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Ki Sung-Yeung, but there is hope Jonjo Shelvey and Miguel Almiron will be fit.
Predicted lineups
Newcastle: Dubravka; Manquillo, Schar, Fernandez, Dummett, Willems; Atsu, Shelvey, Hayden, Joelinton; Carroll
Palace: Guaita; Kelly, Tomkins, Dann, Riedewald; Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur; Ayew, Benteke, Zaha
TV channel and live stream information
The match will not be shown live in the UK due to TV blackout rules regarding 3pm kick-offs.
You can follow all the action on our LIVE match blog.
Head to head (H2H) results history
Palace have struggled in this fixture with three Premier League wins to Newcastle's eight, along with five draws.
However, Palace took four points off Newcastle last term, including a 1-0 win at St James' Park in April thanks to a late Luka Milivojevic penalty.
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