Newcastle United have not had long to stew on their defeat to West Ham on Monday night, with the Magpies' focus switching straight to Saturday's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Eddie Howe was not happy with his side's performance against the Hammers, but will know it was only a few short weeks since they beat Arsenal and Nottingham Forest in successive games. The United boss has a slight injury concern over key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes after he came off on Monday with a muscle injury, but had hoped the Brazilian would be fine to keep his place.
Joe Willock also picked up a knock, but has trained this week, with Sandro Tonali on standby should Bruno be ruled out. Palace have struggled this season but will feature Newcastle summer target Marc Guehi at the heart of their defence - in what could be a January transfer audition.
Liran Froind, Co-Founder of Ticket-Compare, added: "It’s been a topsy-turvy season for Newcastle United, but the team’s ability to pull off big results against the Premier League’s giants remains a bright spot and will give Magpies fans a lot of optimism.
"Eddie Howe has acknowledged how difficult it is to maintain consistency in a challenging league while coping with injuries.
"Regardless of the ups and downs, Magpies fans can always be expected to pack into St James’ Park. Newcastle United tickets remain some of the most sought-after in the Premier League, and there’s no better atmosphere when the fans are up for it."
We'll have live updates from the United boss as they happen right here - scroll down for the latest.
This weekend's Guehi meeting
I'd like to think we know about everyone. That is regardless of the player and opponent.
It is very difficult to comment too deeply (on Guehi). Marc is somebody we respect. He is a very good player.
Pick your NUFC XI
A few doubts for tomorrow's game then - pick your Newcastle United starting XI to face Crystal Palace here.
Pick the team
- Dubravka
- Pope
- Ruddy
- Vlachodimos
Injury news on Bruno
The full fitness update on Bruno Guimaraes ahead of this weekend's trip to Crystal Palace.
No Miley this weekend - as it stands...
Newcastle U21s play Palace U21s this evening.
At the moment [he won’t travel]. As I say, we’ve got to train first so let’s see how we get through training but the plan is that I feel Lewy needs to play.
He was injured for a period of time and games will do him world of good rather than travelling with us.
Schar and Joelinton's suspension tightrope
It’s a difficult one to go into too much detail on that with the players as they need to be free.
Joey needs to be free to play his game and one of his biggest strengths is his ability to win the ball and cover every blade of grass and to be physical with his opponents.
Part of the reason that I withdrew him on Monday was to make sure we had him for the next day. He is such a pivotal figure for us.
With those guys, the likelihood is that they will get booked before the cut off point but that’s while we have that point.
How has Will Osula been progressing?
An interesting question. I think there's always a process a player has to go through, especially when they sign in Will's case with a lot of work ahead of him to get to be the player that he eventually wants to be.
But he's really committed to that work. I have to say he's been excellent. He's really embraced the coaching side of our work.
He's worked really closely with Graham Jones, with myself, Jason [Tindall], Steve [Purches], Simon [Weatherstone]. Different people at different times. I think we've seen a real growth in his performance.
Now, he's competing against two outstanding experienced centre forwards but he's got a big part in our future ahead of him.
How has Wilson reacted to speculation over his future?
Well, I think as a modern day player now you have to [shut out the outside noise]. If you don't deal with outside noise and you let it affect you and let it creep into your thoughts, that could be a very dangerous thing.
One of the challenges for any modern day player, young player, coming through is the ability to ignore everything apart from obviously the information that you need from people that you respect and have got your best interests at heart.
So I think that's a new thing that modern players are adjusting to because of the noise and social media and other avenues can be really loud. So if the players sort of took that information on and believed most of it, none of them would be able to kick a ball.
So I think Callum's experienced enough to know that and, is very single minded in his pursuit of what he wants and that's one of the biggest qualities he has.
How does Sandro get back in this team?
Sandro's been good. He's trained really well, especially this week. He did really well against Forest when the game was in the balance. He played a big part in moving the game towards us.
He's doing himself no harm in training.
Callum Wilson's future
Does being out of contract give Wilson more incentives this season?
I think Callum has loads of incentives internally built within him.
I wouldn't necessarily have to ask him about those. He is a very driven person and does regularly set himself goals.
I'm sure his contract is on his mind but I think it will be in the back part of his brain because he will be focusing on the here and now and doesn't things that can affect his long term future for the positive.
Happy birthday Eddie!
It's Howe's 47th birthday today!
'Have the birthday celebrations been slightly tempered after Monday, Eddie?'
Slightly [?] tempered... fully tempered I think! It's been a normal day for me. Up early, in here preparing for the game. Family things always take a backseat to this job.
Strong squad at his disposal...
......unlike at this point of last season!
It's a position we weren't in at all last season. Certainly you want that squad depth, especially in this month. December will be crucial. Intense period. We need that choice because naturally we're going to pick up injuries along the way.
How does Bruno react to Monday's loss?
Mentally Bruno has been strong. He's had a lot to cope with. You can never underestimate the pressure of playing for a country like Brazil. He's got a big demand on him.
Games like Monday are a great test of his leadership. Really good challenges for Bruno.
Injury news
Joe Willock - He took a bang to the above the ankle and lost a little bit of feeling in his leg. He's improved quickly.
Bruno - He felt a muscle problem.
They have a chance to play. They're not serious injuries. We'll make a decision today.
West Ham defeat...
A frustrated Howe starts with the defeat on Monday evening.
I thought it was a disjointed last half an hour. The first 60 minutes were pretty good. I had no complaints with the performance but with the chances we didn't take.
Updates from Eddie on the way
The Newcastle boss will be here shortly to offer a match preview and an injury update ahead of Palace.
There'll also be a debrief of the West Ham United defeat on Monday......
Stick with us here throughout the morning.
Liverpool respect
It's a big week for Arne Slot and Liverpool, with next Wednesday's trip to St James' Park coming after the Champions League win over Real Madrid and Sunday's Premier League clash with Manchester City.
But the Reds are certainly not taking their eye off the ball when it comes to the game against Newcastle United next week, with Slot saying: "We knew it was a big week but I said once this week is over, next week is a big week again with Newcastle and Everton."
Shearer transfer prediction
Alan Shearer has been talking transfers - and expects one experienced player to leave St James' Park in the January window.
Shearer told Betfair: "It doesn't look as if Miguel Almiron’s future is at Newcastle. He's not been involved at all really, only as a squad player so that would tell you that he'll possibly be one of the players that they'll be looking to offload."
The latest podcast - The Match Preview
Join Andrew and Gibbo as the pair preview Saturday's game against Crystal Palace.
United injury list
We'll get an update from Eddie Howe this morning, but here's how thing stand. United will have Dan Burn back in the squad after he was suspended for West Ham.
On the agenda
Plenty to talk about today, including . . . .
- Bruno's injury update
- West Ham response
- Coming up against Marc Guehi
- Callum Wilson's return
- Packed fixture list
- Away form improving
Morning all
Morning everyone and welcome to today's live blog coverage of Eddie Howe's pre-match media briefing. The Newcastle United head coach will be along shortly to talk all things Crystal Palace, with an injury update and how he plans a reponse to the disappointing defeat to West Ham.
There's plenty to get through today, with some big games on the horizon for United, so it's sure to be an interesting one. Updates on the way . . .
