Newcastle United host West Ham at St James’ Park in a huge clash at opposite ends of Premier League table.
Victory will see Newcastle stay third in the table, whilst West Ham could begin this match needing a win to climb out of the relegation zone if Wolves and Bournemouth both win in earlier kick-offs.
Team News
Bruno Guimaraes is suspended for Newcastle as he begins a three-match ban following his red card in their midweek second leg victory against Southampton in this season’s Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Alexander Isak was meanwhile substituted in that match with concussion and will likely miss this game, in line with concussion protocols.
Javier Manquillo (unspecified), Matt Targett (heel) and Emil Krafth (knee) remain ruled out.
West Ham could welcome Danny Ings back into contention if he passes a late fitness test, after a knee injury kept him out of their FA Cup victory at Derby.
Kurt Zouma (quad), Maxwel Cornet (calf) and Gianluca Scamacca (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle United face a tough test against West Ham at St James’ Park in a 5:30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 4 February, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle have lost just one of their last six meetings against West Ham (W3, D2, L1).
- West Ham are unbeaten in four of their last eight league visits to Newcastle (W2, D2, L4).
- Both teams have scored in five of their last six meetings – except for a 2-0 away win for Newcastle in September 2020.
- Miguel Almiron has been involved in 10 of Newcastle’s 33 league goals this season, in which he scored nine goals and provided one assist.
- Said Benrahma is the only West Ham player to hit the woodwork more than once this season, having found the woodwork twice in 18 league appearances.
Prediction
After securing their first cup final of this century in midweek alongside their impressive league form, Newcastle will certainly be riding a wave of excitment coming into this game but Jonjo Shelvey’s sale now leaves some concern over central midfield cover.
Guimaraes’ three-match ban also poses further worry with only Matty and Sean Longstaff available, which could well mean some experimenting for Eddie Howe unless he hands some youngsters a chance to impress in that position.
West Ham meanwhile seem to finally be finding some form after winning their last two domestic matches, yet weren’t exactly impressive at Derby but were crucially effective in their win so I would like to see more desire especially when facing a fearsome home atmosphere from Newcastle fans.
This clash is therefore going to be quite interesting to watch in terms of tactics but I do fancy Newcastle to get the win, should they turn up and play with the same high-energy attacking intensity as often seen in recent games.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 West Ham
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