Newcastle United v Crystal Palace

A perfect night for Newcastle comes to an end. They hammer Crystal Palace 5-0 at St James’ Park and move above Nottingham Forest into third in the Premier League table, in a fantastic position to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. The evening got off to an excellent start when Murphy slammed home a cross-shot from a tight angle before Pope saved Eze’s penalty and Guehi scored an own goal in a decisive two-minute spell. Barnes and Schar went on to make it three and four before half-time and then Isak – who had missed a couple of big chances – bent in a fifth after the break. In a statistical freak, it was Palace who actually won the xG battle 2-1.39, but their hosts were by far the more clinical of the two sides. They head to Aston Villa in another big game on Saturday, while the Eagles – who stay 12th – host Bournemouth. Thanks for following!

FULL-TIME: NEWCASTLE 5-0 CRYSTAL PALACE

Gordon leads a counter-attack and his fresh legs allow him to run away from the Palace midfield. He misdirects his shot just wide of the post, though.

Pope stands up tall to deny Nketiah again as he fights for his clean sheet.

Five minutes are added on at the end of the game.

Wharton looks set to capitalise on a gift of an opportunity as Longstaff slips, but the Palace midfielder opts to pass rather than shoot and gets it all wrong.

Pope deals with a poor ball into the box as Palace put up one last bit of resistance. Newcastle have well and truly settled for their lot.

Kamada feeds Nketiah inside the box but the left-footed shot is into the side netting. Any Palace fans who haven't set off early back to London are denied a moment to celebrate.

Devenny is on for Lerma in the Palace midfield.

Esse's challenge has Livramento down in pain but the England full-back hobbles back onto his feet and is OK to continue.

Krafth is called into action for the first time as Mitchell tries to get in behind. Newcastle look happy to run the clock down from here.

Palace have improved since Wharton came on. The midfielder swings a lovely ball out to Kamada, who plays in Mitchell to win a corner.

Tindall makes his last change of the night, Krafth replacing Trippier.

Munoz is the latest player into the book, this one for a late foul on Gordon.

Esse is on for Palace, replacing Sarr.

Newcastle haven't stopped working. Tonali chases back to win a throw-in off Mitchell and gets a chorus of his song from the home faithful.

Guimaraes also gets a rest, Longstaff coming on in midfield.

Isak's work is done for the night, with Wilson on upfront.

A corner is chipped towards Tonali on the edge of the box and the Italian catches a sweet volley but it doesn't get through the crowd of bodies.

Guimaraes is booked for a foul on the silky Wharton.

Palace have found some energy with the subs but Newcastle are still relatively comfortable.

Munoz's header is blocked by his own team-mate! The wing-back gets up at the back post but Sarr is in the way of the goalward header and Newcastle's clean sheet is preserved, for now.

Gordon is also given half an hour, with the in-form Murphy allowed to put his feet up early.

An unamused Joelinton is substituted on the hour mark, replaced by Willock.

Burn also goes into the book for complaining that Lerma deserved a more severe punishment than yellow.

Lerma is booked for an aerial challenge on Schar that has left the Newcastle defender in a bad way.

Joelinton did really well with the press and tackle that set up Isak, but it was also a quality finish.

It hasn't been Eze's night. His penalty miss was decisive and now he's off for Kamada.

Hughes is substituted just a few minutes after his booking, with Wharton on.

Mateta is subbed early again, taken off for Nketiah.

Palace look prepared to contain here, with Newcastle still bossing the game. The visitors are preparing a few changes, too.

HOW HAS ISAK NOT SCORED?! It feels like Newcastle's main man has missed as many opportunities as across the rest of the season combined tonight. A knockdown finds him six yards out and unmarked but he shoots straight at Henderson.

Hughes goes into the book for a late challenge on Guimaraes. That's his fourth foul of the game so he's had it coming.

Guimaraes swings a ball out to Barnes, who uses the run of Livramento cutt inside but shoots straight at the defender.

Newcastle look ready to keep attacking. Livramento bursts forwards down the left but his cross is straight into Henderson's arms.

Palace get us going for the second half.

Who knows what Palace boss Oliver Glasner now says to his players, who conceded five goals at Man City on Saturday and have shipped another four inside a half at St James'. It could well be a case of damage limitation from here, against a Newcastle side that will sense an opportunity to boost their goal difference in the race for the Champions League.

Wow! What a stunning first half for Newcastle, who are roaring into third place after taking Crystal Palace to the cleaners. Eze did miss the chance to equalise from the spot after 36 minutes but Newcastle have put their foot on the accelerator since then, with a Guehi own goal and strikes from Barnes and Schar surely putting the game beyond their visitors. Murphy had earlier scored the opener from an incredibly tight angle, though replays did appear to suggest it was no fluke, with his eyes darting towards goal in the build-up. Newcastle's xG only sits at 0.96 from their nine shots but it's been such a clinical performance, while Palace boast an xG of 1.47 - including a penalty - for no goal.

HALF-TIME: NEWCASTLE 4-0 CRYSTAL PALACE

More Murphy brilliance made life relatively straightforward for Schar. The winger is flying.

A long throw lands at the feet of Mateta, who twists but sees a shot blocked behind for a corner.

Is there a better midfielder in the league than Tonali at the moment? It was another piece of quality to pick out Barnes, who still had plenty to do.

Seven minutes are added on at the end of an action-packed first half.

A chipped pass puts Mateta through but the striker is denied by Pope at his feet, and the flag is then raised anyway.

CLOSE FOR ISAK AGAIN! The combinations down the sides of the penalty area have been brilliant from Newcastle so far, this time Guimaraes finding Isak, and the striker sees one shot blocked before firing another wide from close range. A goal for the Swede is all that is missing from this half for Newcastle.

The game takes a breath after a three-minute spell that could well prove decisive. Eze's penalty is saved at one end and Guehi puts past his goalkeeper at the other, a potential two-goal swing that Palace will do well to recover from.

That was a brilliant piece of goalkeeping by Pope, as poor a penalty as it looks. The Newcastle stopper held his nerve and ends up comfortably falling on the ball.

VAR are looking at a potential penalty from that incident, with Pope coming out of his goal and making contact with Richards as he punched clear.

Pope comes a long way out of his goal to deal with a ball into the box and doesn't get near the ball, but Lerma can't direct his header from distance towards the vacant goal.

The wet surface seems to have caught lots of the players out as we've seen mutliple slips from players in promising situations. Isak is among the worst victims, going down a few times.

Newecastle are frustrated as the referee halts play when Sarr goes down from their corner. VAR rule out any potential review.

Hughes is arguably lucky to avoid a booking as Barnes skips away down the left and has his arm tugged back.

Palace have calmed things down somewhat, keeping possession in the Newcastle half for the most sustained period of the match.

Schar is in the mood after his halfway-line effort that hit the crossbar at Leicester last week - but this time a 30-yarder does not threaten the net.

Joelinton's heavy touch allows Sarr to intercept and the Brazilian catches the Palace man late. Another booking for Joelinton tonight would see him receive a two-match ban.

Palace look to hit back straight away as Eze looks to weave through the penalty area, before Hughes shoots high and wide from the edge of the box.

Trippier and Murphy have been linking up nicely throughout the first quarter of an hour and it finally gets rewarded.

Sarr breaks into space between Newcastle's defence and midfield but chooses to pass wide when Mateta is making a dangerous run through the middle. The wrong choice from the Palace forward.

A breathless start has seen both teams do plenty right but not find the back of the net. We've had four shots and a few other nearly moments.

Another chance for Isak! Tonali pngs a pass out to Trippier, who knocks the ball back for Murphy. Another wicked cross from the winger finds Isak but the header is over the top.

Palace break quickly themselves and Munoz's cross is cut out just as it seems destined to get through to Mateta. The subsequent corner is nodded over the top by Richards.

ISAK GOES CLOSE! Newcastle break rapidly as Guimaraes frees Murphy down the right. The winger pulls the ball back to Isak, who forces a good stop from Henderson from 18 yards.

The ball is played into Mateta's chest on the halfway line and the Palace forward proves his worth by winning a free-kick from Schar.

Sarr holds the width as Palace players flood the box but his cross is straight into the arms of Pope.

It's a big night for Trippier, who becomes the third player in the Newcastle squad - after Burn and Pope - to have passed 200 Premier League appearances this season.

CLOSE WITHIN 20 SECONDS! Murphy drifts a lovely cross into the box, which is agonisingly beyond the stretches of both Isak and Joelinton. Fast start from the hosts!

Newcastle get the game under way.

The teams are out at St James' and we're just about ready to go. Newcastle are considered strong favourites by the Opta Live Win Probability calculator, rated as 54.5% likely winners, but Palace do have a fighting chance at 22.2%.

Palace welcome Guehi back into their starting XI after he missed Saturday's defeat at City with suspension, while Hughes is also recalled at the expense of Wharton. Mateta was substituted after 45 minutes at the Etihad but is in from the start.

Newcastle - led by Jason Tindall - understandably name an unchanged XI from Sunday's 4-1 win over Manchester United. Isak hasn't scored any of his side's last eight goals and will be eager to get back in the mix in this game.

CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: Eddie Nketiah, Matheus Franca, Nathaniel Clyne, Daichi Kamada, Adam Wharton, Romain Esse, Ben Chilwell, Matt Turner, Justin Devenny

NEWCASTLE SUBS: Martin Dubravka, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Matt Targett, Emil Krafth, William Osula, Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff, Lewis Miley

Crystal Palace still harbour their own hopes of qualifying for Europe and won't be cowed by Newcastle's fine form. The Eagles have won six of their last eight matches but must recover from Saturday's 5-2 beating at the hands of Manchester City.

On a midweek in which no other Premier League teams are in action, Newcastle have a fantastic opportunity to move up to third in the Premier League and take a big step closer to securing Champions League qualification. The hosts have won five straight matches in all competitions - but are without manager Eddie Howe, who is recovering from pneumonia.

Hello! Welcome to live coverage of Newcastle United v Crystal Palace in the Premier League from St James' Park.