Dan Cook has claimed on the HLTCO podcast that he expects to see Conor Gallagher in from the start for Crystal Palace tonight.
Palace will be travelling up to St James’ Park for a midweek trip which may now be a very daunting one, with the Magpies having won five home games in a row under Eddie Howe, while the Eagles have lost back-to-back games across all competitions.
Will Crystal Palace win tonight?
Yes!
No!
Patrick Vieira, however, will likely be delighted to have a game to put their FA Cup semi-final misery behind them so quickly, no matter who the opposition are, and will be fully aware that one of his star players of the in Gallagher will be available for selection once again.
Cook expects to see Gallagher come straight back into the side after being ineligible for their FA Cup semi-final against his parent club Chelsea.
He said: “I think, from a players’ point of view, they’re probably quite pleased to get an immediate opportunity to stretch their legs a bit and make sure that they can put that FA Cup semi-final defeat to bed.
“We should see Conor Gallagher put back into the starting XI, you would assume, given the fact that he missed out at Wembley against Chelsea with them being his parent club.”
TIF Thoughts on Gallagher…
Crystal Palace have had to play five games across all competitions this season without Gallagher and have only managed to win one – which came against bottom club Norwich City – so there’s clearly no doubt that the Eagles are a much better team with him involved.
Gallagher is clearly influential and key to how Vieira wants his side to play, as he leads the way in pressures, goal-creating actions and is also only behind Wilfried Zaha for successful dribbles, so he certainly appears to be the player a lot of things go through when getting forward, as well as someone that ignites the press for Palace, so having him back will naturally be a big lift.
While Vieira has done a top job at Palace in his first Premier League role, given the young players he brought in and how many departed during his first summer in charge, consistency has been a constant concern, with the Frenchman seeing his side record successive wins just once in the league all season – something that has held them back a lot.
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