Newcastle United predicted line-up vs Crystal Palace with three potential big changes

There will be no knee-jerk reaction to Newcastle United's defeat to West Ham, but make no mistake, Eddie Howe was hugely disappointed by the performance and result.

However, the Magpies head coach has faith in his players to make amends when they take on Crystal Palace this weekend. As well he should - after all, it was only a few short weeks ago that United pulled off Premier League wins over high-flying Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.

The issue for Howe this weekend is that two of his midfielders came off early against West Ham with injuries - and there is a huge game against Liverpool at St James' Park four days after this Selhurst Park showdown.

Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock are both expected to take their place in the travelling squad this weekend, with neither injury thought to be serious. However, this could be the ideal time to hand Sandro Tonali a starting role after a frustrating spell for the Italian.

He impressed in the Carabao Cup win over Chelsea, and made a big contribution off the bench in the 3-1 win at Forest, so including him would not be a risk. The question is whether Howe would be willing to start Bruno on the bench, with the Brazilian then ready to go against Arne Slot's Reds next Wednesday.

One more certain change is the return of Dan Burn to the centre of defence alongside Fabian Schar. United badly missed the Geordie stopper against West Ham, and he is set to come back into the side at the expense of Lloyd Kelly.

Harvey Barnes has been pushing for a starting role, and this could also come this weekend. Like Bruno, it would be less of a case of 'dropping' Joe Willock but merely giving him the chance to fully recover, with some big fixtures on the horizon.

Switching Joelinton back into midfield opens up the space for Barnes to occupy a wide role, alternating with Anthony Gordon. Callum Wilson is set to start on the bench again, but provides a different attacking threat to Alexander Isak if and when Howe wants to change things.

Newcastle United predicted line-up vs Crystal Palace

Nick Pope; Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall; Sean Longstaff, Sandro Tonali, Joelinton; Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak.

Subs: Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier, Lloyd Kelly, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock, Miguel Almiron, Jacob Murphy, Callum Wilson, Will Osula.

Newcastle United transfer news straight to your phone on WhatsApp

It's quick and easy to join. Just click this link and select 'Join Community' to get started.

Plus you can follow our new Newcastle United channel right here - just follow this link

Your informational will be hidden, you'll only ever receive messages from the Chronicle Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. For more information, click here. You can read our Privacy Notice here.