Eddie Howe conceded if some of Newcastle United's key players leave the club this summer, expectations around St. James' Park must be lowered. 

Newcastle are 13th in the Premier League and seven points adrift of the top five, putting them at serious risk of failing to qualify for any European competition next season. 

The Magpies entered the international break on the back of a 2-1 defeat to rivals Sunderland, piling the pressure on Howe and his immediate future on Tyneside. 

But it is not only Howe who could depart. The likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon have all been touted to exit the club, as Newcastle continue to struggle with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules. 

And Howe, who confirmed he remains 100% committed to Newcastle amid their ongoing situation, said that challenging for Europe could be difficult moving forward. 

"If that's the reality – and I'm not saying it is – then that's the reality. I've no issue working with the conditions the club set and finances dictate," Howe said.

"I've never had an issue with that all through my career. As long as that is made clear to everybody on the outside, and the expectations are aligned within that.

"Because I don't think you can have expectations that warp reality. Everything has got to be aligned for the players to enter the pitch and play in their best place, where they're relaxed and not under undue pressure. That's fundamentally important."

Newcastle will be hoping to get back on track at Selhurst Park this Sunday against a Crystal Palace side who edged closer to a spot in the Conference League semi-finals. 

Oliver Glasner's side beat Fiorentina 3-0 in the first leg of their last-eight tie, with goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Tyrick Mitchell and Ismaila Sarr doing the damage. 

But Palace's attention now returns to the Premier League, with the Eagles 14th on 39 points, and Glasner revealed he would not make wholesale changes.

"We are not planning to rotate massively. Firstly, because I am convinced that the players are fresher," Glasner said.

"Secondly, the best preparation for a game is a good performance in the previous one. We want to go to Florence with a good performance and a good result."

Palace have, however, only won one of their nine league games that have immediately followed a Conference League match (excluding qualifiers) this season (D2 L6), but Glasner pinpointed some areas that his team could expose in Newcastle's side.

"They conceded quite a lot of goals in their last few games before the [international] break, they can often concede two or three goals," Glasner said of Newcastle's weaknesses.  

"If we are sharp and play our style, I am pretty convinced we can create three or four chances, and then it's about being efficient with it – and also controlling their pace."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

Though Mateta has not scored in the Premier League since New Year's Day, he got himself back amongst the goals with a penalty against Fiorentina in the Europa League. 

The Frenchman finished that game with team-high totals for shots (four) and shots on target (two), but he has only scored two goals in his nine top-flight appearances against Newcastle, and has only been on the winning side once in those outings against them (D4 L4). 

Newcastle – Anthony Gordon

Gordon has scored in each of his last three Premier League games, which is his best scoring streak in the competition.

The last English player to score in more consecutive games for Newcastle was Joe Willock (a run of seven, ending in May 2021).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Opta supercomputer struggles to split the two sides in its pre-match simulations, though it is Newcastle who have had the better of this fixture of late. They have lost just one of their last nine Premier League games against Palace (W4 D4), keeping a clean sheet in six of their last eight against the Eagles.

And following their 2-0 win at St James' Park in January, the Magpies are looking to complete the top-flight double over Palace for the first time since 2013-14.

But Howe's side have lost six of their last nine Premier League games (W3), the joint-most of any side since the start of this run on January 25 (along with Tottenham).

Only three sides – Leeds (eight), Burnley (six), and Spurs (three) – have fewer points over their last nine Premier League matches this season than the Magpies (nine).

Palace, meanwhile, have won just one of their last 10 games at Selhurst Park in the Premier League (D4 L5), a 1-0 victory over bottom side Wolves in February. Indeed, only Burnley and Spurs (two each) have fewer home top-flight wins this season than the Eagles (three) coming into this weekend.

But having lost their first four Premier League home games against Newcastle between 1994 and 2013, Palace have lost just one of their last 10 against the Magpies (W3 D6).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace – 38.8%

Draw – 26.5%

Newcastle – 34.7%