Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira must unleash Jeffrey Schlupp against Newcastle | OneFootball

Crystal Palace will be hoping to claim just their second Premier League victory of the season when they host Newcastle United this afternoon.

The Eagles have made a promising start to life under new manager Patrick Vieira, putting in several exciting and entertaining performances in the opening weeks of the campaign.

Draws against the likes of West Ham United, Leicester City and Arsenal have come either side of a famous victory over Tottenham Hotspur, but the south Londoners will be left disappointed by their tally of eight points from eight games.

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That’s because the Premier League table could have looked a whole lot healthier for Palace if they hadn’t conceded last-minute equalisers against both Brighton and Arsenal.

The string of frustrating results puts extra pressure on the Eagles to claim all three points when the managerless Magpies come to Selhurst Park this afternoon, with Newcastle sitting 19th in the table and without a win to their name.

As a result, Vieira must go with a more attacking lineup than he has in recent weeks, providing his charges with more firepower in the final third of the pitch.

Schlupp could terrify Newcastle

One effective way to do so without putting Palace’s defensive shape and structure at risk would be to unleash versatile midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp, who hasn’t started in the league since the visit of Brentford in August, at the expense of the more cautious Luka Milivojevic.

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The outstanding performances of Conor Gallagher and James McArthur make the pair virtually undroppable in Vieira’s engine room, but the latter is more than capable of taking over Milivojevic’s defensive duties, allowing his teammates the freedom to push forward.

With Schlupp in the side, Palace would have a far greater attacking threat through the middle of the pitch, as last season’s underlying numbers show.

As per WhoScored, the Ghana international recorded three assists in the Premier League – the third-highest tally in the squad – and averaged 0.7 key passes, 0.7 shots and 1.1 dribbles per league game, bettering or matching Milivojevic’s respective totals in each metric.

He was labelled “incredible” by his former manager Roy Hodgson following an outstanding performance against Manchester United in September 2020, and now it’s time for Schlupp to show Vieira what he’s capable of; the French tactician just needs to be brave enough to select him from the off, as the enterprising 28-year-old could terrify a Newcastle side bereft of confidence and form.