Newcastle United visit the London Stadium on Sunday to face West Ham United, who remain winless under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Hammers are 19th in the Premier League with four points from nine
matches, while Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are targeting a fourth straight victory across all competitions.
West Ham’s struggles continued with a 3-1 defeat at Leeds United last weekend, their third league loss in a row. They have conceded a league-high 20 goals and are yet to win under Santo, whose only point came in his first match against Everton. Another defeat would mark the club’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Newcastle, meanwhile, enter in strong form after wins over Benfica, Fulham, and Tottenham Hotspur, each of them in a different competition.
The Magpies sit a poor 12th in the table and are still without an away league win this season, a streak extending to seven matches dating back to last campaign. Newcastle, however, have avoided defeat in their last six trips to West Ham.
Former Newcastle striker Callum Wilson could start against his former club, as Newcastle will be missing Tino Livramento, Yoane Wissa and Harrison Ashby, while Lewis Hall is close to returning from a thigh problem but not fully fit yet. Sven Botman is available after recovering from a head injury, and several key players — Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, and Joelinton — are expected to return to the starting lineup after being left off the XI for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup game.
Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk
On Hall’s fitness…
“He’s very close. He hasn’t trained with us yet, so hopefully he’ll be training with us today for the first time. We’ll see how he looks. He’s worked really hard, looked after himself, looks in good shape, but we will have to reintroduce him at the right time.”
On fitness issues in the rest of his squad…
“No fresh injuries. We are still managing Will Osula’s ankle – we will see how he is today. But apart from that, we are as we were.”
On West Ham…
“They have a group of very good players, especially in the attacking areas. We are going to have our work cut out to limit the space for their attacking talent.
“Our away form has not been strong enough, and we want to put that right in this game.”
On the Carabao Cup draw, which sees the Magpies welcome Fulham in the quarter-finals…
“We asked for a home tie, so that was greatly received.
“It’s a tough game, having just played against Fulham – that makes it an interesting one for us. It was a very narrow victory.
“We’ll look forward to it when it comes around, but we are pleased to be at home.”
On the challenge of facing the Hammers…
“This is a big game for us. As we go towards the next international break these next two games are huge.”
Howay!
- Date: Sunday, November 2nd
- Kick-off: 14:00 BST / 10:00 EST
- Location: London Stadium, London (England)
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