Newcastle United look to pull away from the relegation zone as they visit West Ham United at the London Stadium.
West Ham could move further up the top half of the table with victory, whereas Newcastle will go 15th with a win coupled with a defeat for Aston Villa.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesMichail Antonio is close to returning from a thigh injury for West Ham but won’t be risked this weekend.
Jack Wilshire (groin), Winston Reid (knee) and Lukasz Fabianski (hip) are also ruled out, although Antonio and Wilshire could return next weekend away at Burnley.
Newcastle will be without Sean Longstaff for their next three matches after he was red carded in Sunday’s draw with Wolves.
Andy Carroll meanwhile could return from a groin injury against his former club, who he left for the Magpies in the summer.
Fabian Schar (knee), Matt Ritchie (ankle) and Florian Lejeune (fitness) meanwhile are all ruled out.
Form
West Ham are winless in their last four games with two draws and losses apiece, although they have opened the scoring in each of their last four home games.
Newcastle have taken five points from their last five league games but are winless in their last three away trips, in which they conceded nine goals and scored just once.
Stat Attack
- West Ham have won just two of their last five league meetings with Newcastle (W2, L3).
- Last season’s league double was West Ham’s first against Newcastle since the 1998-99 season.
- Three of the Hammers’ last four league goals at home against Newcastle came in the first half.
- Newcastle have lost two of their three meetings with London based opposition so far this season, although their only away win did come at Tottenham in August through a 27th minute strike from Joelinton (W1, L2).
- West Ham’s Sebastien Haller has won the most aerial battles this season, winning the ball on 64 occasions in the air, although Newcastle’s Joelinton has won the second highest number of aerial battles on 54 occasions.
Prediction
It is difficult to predict which Newcastle team will turn up, particularly on the road so I am unsure on what to expect from them which will provide a tough test for West Ham.
West Ham meanwhile seem to have lost their way slightly in recent weeks despite maintaining their attacking style, which is actually impressive when coupled with high counter-attack pressing and could trouble Newcastle’s defence.
I therefore wouldn’t be surprised to see the Hammers dominating whilst Newcastle defend deep, which might eventually be undone through a moment of clinical magic.
Prediction: West Ham United 1-0 Newcastle United
Result: West Ham United 2-3 Newcastle United