I heard Oliver Glasner prepare for Newcastle with brilliant tactics and carefully omits Crystal Palace star

Oliver Glasner’s decision to omit Eberechi Eze from the game against Aston Villa is now proving to be a pivotal one ahead of their match against Newcastle this weekend.

Glasner admitted that Eze had been back in training for a week and was pushing to travel with the team to the Villa Park, but his decision was to give him another week to fully prepare for when Newcastle come to Selhurst this weekend as it was too risky to take him along after a week’s training.

The Eagles boss told reporters, when asked about his midfielder: “We can't take any risks. He feels he's ready and wants to play, but we want to protect him. We need him for 15 games [in December and January], not just for one.”

Given that he’s had an extra week of training, Eze is now expected to be part of the team that will face Newcastle. If he plays and helps decide the game, the decision to not risk him earlier would have been visionary, especially as he has not been fortunate with injuries this season.

The way Palace played at Villa was inspiring. They were under incredible pressure after losing to Fulham, but instead of holding the line and playing defensively, they took the game to Unai Emery’s side and were unfortunate not to take all three points.

There is no hiding from the fact that this has been a challenging season for the Eagles, who were expected to build on their strong finish last season. Instead, they have been quite predictable, and the recruitment over the summer hasn’t helped.

However, given that Newcastle lost to West Ham at home, the Eagles will be confident that they can surpass Eddie Howe’s side and perhaps take something from the game this weekend.