Chris Sutton is 'not convinced' by Newcastle ahead of Crystal Palace

Newcastle United meet Crystal Palace on Sunday at Selhurst Park. Kick-off is at 2pm live on Sky Sports.

Eddie Howe needs to get his Newcastle side firing on all cylinders to end the season strongly. Ideally, with seven wins from seven, to guarantee the best possible chance of bagging European football.

Realistically, that may be a big ask, but with more time to train between games, we should be aiming for those lofty goals. Especially when we come up against Crystal Palace on Sunday, who we meet in the middle of a Europa League quarter-final.

On paper, this should be an easy one for us with Palace being distracted and our players going into the game much fresher.

Chris Sutton can't forget the derby

In his prediction for the BBC, however, Chris Sutton doesn't share our confidence and the former Aston Villa man hasn't forgotten the horror show that was the derby defeat.

"This game is sandwiched between both legs of Crystal Palace's Europa Conference tie with Fiorentina and, now that they are effectively safe from relegation, I wonder if Eagles boss Oliver Glasner will prioritise Europe?

"That should increase Newcastle's chances, but I am not convinced by their recent form, especially on the road. They have won on their past two visits to the capital, against Tottenham and Chelsea, but I don't see them getting three points here.

"Eddie Howe needs a strong end to the season, but the fact they have lost both derby games against Sunderland, and are below them in the table too, is not really helping him. I certainly don't think his job should be at risk but there are a few fans who do.

"Sutton's prediction: 1-1"

Chris Sutton brought us back down to earth

If Paul Merson instilled a bit of confidence with his prediction, Chris Sutton's prediction has taken the wind out of our sails somewhat.

We still believe we should have more than enough to see off the challenge of Palace, but it is often the games we feel we should be winning that we don't. I mean, just look at the derbies!

Surely, we've got what it takes to do the business on Sunday. The venue really shouldn't matter; the last results don't matter. It's about the 22 players on the pitch, and for Newcastle, one of those may well be Bruno Guimaraes, and that should be all the boost we need to get the job done.