West Ham head to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United as they seek to move out of the Premier League relegation zone with a victory.
With only two games remaining, the Hammers are two points behind Tottenham in a straight shootout between the two London rivals to avoid the drop.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were left furious last week as a controversial VAR decision ruled out Callum Wilson’s 95th-minute equaliser against Arsenal.
But the mood in East London will have improved somewhat on Monday after Spurs wasted a chance to move four points clear of West Ham, as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Leeds United.
With Tottenham not in action again until next Tuesday at FA Cup finalists Chelsea, West Ham have an opportunity to pile the pressure on Spurs with a win over a Newcastle side whose hopes of European football look to be all but over following last Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Fail to win on Tyneside, and West Ham would be relegated with a Tottenham victory at Stamford Bridge. Defeat to Newcastle, given Spurs’ advantage in goal difference, would leave West Ham effectively relegated with a Tottenham draw against Chelsea.
West Ham came from behind to win the reverse fixture 3-1 back in November, which marked Nuno’s first win in charge, but the Portuguese knows repeating that feat will not be easy.
“We knew a while ago it would go down to the wire. What we have to do is compete well against Newcastle, so we still have a chance,” Nuno told his pre-match press conference.
“Our job at West Ham is to be focused and ready for Sunday, and to play Newcastle. They are a very good team, and it’s going to be tough. But we are ready, and we have belief.
“If we are able to perform well, we can do well. We can’t do anything unless we play well. Every game is new, and we have to provide answers on the pitch.”
Though they have enjoyed impressive runs in the Champions League and EFL Cup, it has been a disappointing season in the league for Newcastle, who conceded a late equaliser against Forest, taking their tally of points dropped from winning positions to 27, the most in the division.
Five points behind eighth-placed Brentford, the inability to see out a 1-0 victory against Forest has left Europe as a long shot for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle. However, they are two games unbeaten and can still have ambitions of a top-half finish, with Howe keen to maintain their positive momentum irrespective of the impact the game will have on the relegation battle.
“It’s massive for us,” Howe told his pre-match press conference. “There’s no part of me that thinks any different. [It’s] the last home game of the season and it’s really, really important from our perspective that we finish the season with a positive feeling, and we show our supporters how important every game is to us. We pride ourselves on that.
“There’ll be no part of our preparation that will be any different. We’ve trained every day this week, we’ve trained hard, we’ve trained well. I’m pleased with how the players look. We’ve been competitive, and we need that competitive edge. We have to do ourselves justice first and foremost, without thinking about anyone else.
“I think you go back to the Arsenal game [a 1-0 loss at Emirates Stadium], for me that was a turning point. That was a much better performance, so for three games I think we’ve delivered a decent product. We can do better of course but we’re going in the right direction, and we don’t want to change from that direction and that feeling, so we have to think of ourselves, no one else. We have to build momentum, we have to build confidence in what we’re doing. It’s got to be a positive feel for us.”
This will be the final game at St James’ Park for Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier, who arrived in January, 2022 as the first signing following the club’s Saudi-led takeover and has proven instrumental in helping the Magpies twice reach the Champions League and win the EFL Cup last season.
Trippier will receive what will undoubtedly be an emotional send-off from the home fans as he prepares to leave the club at end of the campaign.
“I think he’s definitely deserving of that recognition,” Howe said of Trippier.
“The actual decision to come here in the first place needs to be celebrated because he’s gone from a team that was hugely successful in Spain to a team that was fighting relegation in the Premier League.
“Everyone said it was financially motivated initially but I can tell that it wasn’t. I think it was a host of reasons and only Kieran can discuss those, but certainly financial wasn’t one of them. [It was] the challenge of returning to the Premier League, hopefully Jason [Tindall] and I played a part in that with our relationship, and wanting to take that fight on in his career position was probably a big risk, but he took it on and I’m so pleased for him that it was rewarded because there was no guarantee that that was going to be the case.”
Team news for Newcastle v West Ham
Newcastle could be without midfielder Joelinton due to a thigh injury.
Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley and Emil Krafth are all out for the remainder of the season, and it remains to be seen if Fabian Schar (ankle) will be able to play for the club again before his contract runs osut.
After Lewis Hall started in an unfamiliar right-back role last week, expect Trippier to come into the XI for his St James’ Park swansong. Anthony Gordon may feature in the matchday squad but seems unlikely to feature with a summer move to Bayern Munich looking to be on the cards.
Adama Traore (knock) is West Ham’s only absentee.
Predicted line-ups for Newcastle v West Ham
Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali; Barnes, Woltemade, Ramsey; Osula.
West Ham: Hermansen; Todibo, Disasi, Mavropanos; Wan-Bissaka, Soucek, Fernandes, Diouf; Bowen, Summerville; Castellanos.
Where to watch Newcastle v West Ham: TV and online streams
Newcastle v West Ham kicks off at 5:30pm. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. It will be available to stream via Sky Go.
Stats for Newcastle v West Ham
- Newcastle lost this exact fixture 2-0 last season but haven’t lost consecutive home league games against West Ham since February/October 1998.
- West Ham are looking to complete just their third Premier League double over Newcastle, after 1998- 99 and 2018-19.
- Newcastle have kept just one clean sheet in their last 14 Premier League games, a 1-0 win at Chelsea back in March.
- Newcastle have dropped more points from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League this season (27), while also gaining fewer points from behind than anyone else (3).
- West Ham have lost 3-0 against Brentford and 1-0 against Arsenal in their last two Premier League games. They last lost three in a row without scoring in February 2024.
- Newcastle have conceded a league-high 20 goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League games this season. The only side to concede more and not be relegated in a single campaign are Crystal Palace in 2023-24 (23).
- West Ham have failed to score in each of their last three away league games. They last went four without a goal in April/May 2015, the fourth game of which was at Newcastle in their final away game of the season.
- Former Magpies striker Callum Wilson scored twice for West Ham against Bournemouth in November earlier this season. Only two players have scored two or more goals in a match against two different former sides in a Premier League campaign – Chris Wood in 2023-24 (vs Burnley and Newcastle) and Nicolas Anelka in 2006-07 (vs Arsenal and Man City).
Prediction for Newcastle v West Ham
It’s as close to do or die as it gets for West Ham, but this is a tricky fixture against a Newcastle side that has played better over the last few weeks. While the Hammers will be desperate to respond to the frustration of last week, the writing may soon be on the wall if they come up short at St James’ Park.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 West Ham
What To Do If You Have A Gambling Problem
We understand that gambling can be fun, but it is always important to gamble responsibly. If you are struggling with a gambling problem, please do not hesitate to ask for help. There are people who can help you get on the road to recovery. Below, we have listed some helpful resources to help aid you on the road to recovery.
- National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133
- GamCare: https://www.gamcare.org.uk
- GambleAware: www.gambleaware.com
