Having seen their marquee summer signing become embroiled in an unforeseen betting scandal, Newcastle United seek to banish such off-field demons when Crystal Palace visit St James' Park for a Premier League fixture on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides took a point from their most recent fixtures before the international hiatus, as the Magpies played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with West Ham United, while the Eagles and Nottingham Forest's goalless stalemate was a much more low-key affair.
A European hangover was evident at the London Stadium, though, as the Magpies fell behind against West Ham after just eight minutes courtesy of Tomas Soucek's strike, and an Alexander Isak brace would only proceed a dramatic 89th-minute leveller from Hammers new boy Mohammed Kudus.
A stress-free fortnight would have been on Howe's agenda while Newcastle's international crop donned their countries' colours, but the Magpies return to domestic duty having learned of Sandro Tonali's involvement in illegal betting - a transgression which Juventus' Nicolo Fagioli and Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo have also been indicted for.
While the St James' Park faithful are anxiously waiting to hear of a possible lengthy suspension for Tonali, Howe and co must push such distractions to the back of their mind as they endeavour to stretch their unbeaten streak across all tournaments to eight matches - an achievement of paramount importance before the visit of Borussia Dortmund next week.
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