Newcastle vs. Crystal Palace Predictions: Back Kraft to be carded at St James'

Newcastle welcome Crystal Palace to St James’ Park on Wednesday evening and our man @AnthonyEadson is on hand to preview the action and provide us with his best bets for the game. 

At Christmas, Newcastle had just one Premier League win and found themselves on 10 points in 19th in the table. Astonishingly the Magpies now have their sights set on a top half finish and a win on Wednesday could see them reach 40 points and move level with Leicester in ninth. 

There aren’t many sides who have performed better on home soil in 2022 than Newcastle who have won their last five at St James’. The last four of those victories at home have been by a one goal margin and Eddie Howe’s men can be backed at 13/10 with most firms to collect all three points against Palace. Newcastle have won eight of their 13 league matches this calendar year, which is as many as they managed in 42 games in 2021.

After the disappointment of losing to Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final last weekend, Crystal Palace will be looking to get back to winning ways and whatever happens in this match, this season will go down as a success under Patrick Viera. 

Conor Gallagher should slot back into the starting XI after not being able to feature against Chelsea, while Ryan Fraser is a doubt for the home side, with Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier still sidelined through injury. 

The first selection I’ve opted for on Wednesday evening comes from the player shots market, where I’m backing Bruno Guimaraes to have over 1.5 in the match. This is available at 6/5 with bet365 which looks to be the best price out there at the time of writing. 

After scoring a brace at the weekend, which included a 95th minute winner in the 2-1 victory over Leicester City, Bruno Guimaraes should be full of confidence. His Newcastle side have been in good form at home recently and I’m expecting another strong showing against Palace. 

Brazilian Bruno, has only started five league matches since arriving on Tyneside and he has three goals to his name. On Sunday, the 24-year-old managed four shots, and in his five starts he has recorded shot figures of 3,1,3,1,4, clearing the over 1.5 line on three occasions comfortably. 

Newcastle rank 11th for shots taken per game at home this season and Palace rank joint 20th for shots taken on the road averaging just 8.9 per game. All things considered here I think 6/5 looks a fair price on Bruno Guimaraes to have over 1.5 shots in this game. 

I’ve also dipped my toe into the ‘to be carded’ market and like the look of Emil Kraft to find his way into the book at 11/2 with William Hill. Kraft should start the game at right-back which would mean Wilfried Zaha should be his direct opponent. 

No player has been fouled more times in the league this season than Zaha (79), drawing three per game on average. With this in mind, I feel the likelihood of the home sides right-back being carded increases here and I’m surprised to see 11/2 available on Kraft, especially considering his disciplinary record this season.

The Swedish defender has started 13 matches for Newcastle in 2021/2022 in the Premier League and has been shown a yellow card in five of those! Last season, Kraft picked up four yellows in 14 league starts, and considering he’s up against Zaha on Wednesday, I think there’s a little bit of value to be had with 11/2 on show.

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