Barclays Premier League
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Venue: Upton Park Date: Monday, 14 September |
TEAM NEWS
Andy Carroll is in contention for West Ham after recovering from a knee injury, but Alex Song, who has rejoined on loan, is out with an ankle problem.
The Hammers' trio of new signings, Victor Moses, Michail Antonio and Nikica Jelavic, are all available.
Newcastle will be without striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is serving a three-match suspension.
Defender Paul Dummett is also out after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
Jonathan Pearce: "Upton Park has been blanketed with sentimentality as it enters the final season. The players have looked stifled by it all, starting with defeats by Bournemouth and Leicester like shuffling sleepwalkers.
"But the old ground really wakes up under floodlights. Now West Ham's home form might match their away successes.
"Slaven Bilic believes the win at Liverpool was hugely significant in the club's progression.
"With just one goal in eight away league games, Newcastle lack potency. They've averaged just over 30% of possession in their last three games which is concerning.
"If West Ham start well, the visitors might not see enough of the ball to get back into it."
Twitter: @jpearcefootball
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "It is very important. We need to win at home, or at least to get something from the game because we need to build on our great away results.
"We have to start picking up points at home, and I'm very confident because our reactions in the second halves of both games were good, and if we can do it from the start and cut out the silly mistakes, we will be alright."
Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren: "We feel we're establishing a platform. We've seen evidence of that but we've been down to 10 men in two of the four games.
"We need the breaks. We need to play better football, create more chances and score more goals and the results will come."
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Nobody is doubting the ability of Newcastle boss Steve McClaren – but now it is a case of him finding his best team and knitting it together. West Ham are proving very difficult to predict at the moment, winning away at Arsenal and Liverpool but losing both games at home, so I am probably best off going for a draw.
Lawro's full predictions v ex-F1 driver Mark Webber
- Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Newcastle have only lost two of their previous nine league games at Upton Park (won four, drew three).
- West Ham have earned just one win in their last five Premier League meetings with Newcastle (drew two, lost two).
- Aaron Cresswell scored the only goal in this fixture last season as West Ham won 1-0 in November.
West Ham United
- West Ham are yet to win a point at home under Slaven Bilic (lost two).
- They have lost their last three Premier League games at Upton Park, conceding eight goals in the process.
- The Hammers have scored with 22% of their shots this season – a league high.
- They have been shown six red cards in 10 games this season in all competitions, compared to three in 43 matches in 2014-15.
Newcastle United
- Newcastle are still awaiting their first league win of the season – last year they went seven games without a victory at the start of the campaign.
- They have failed to score in their last three Premier League matches (lost two, drew one).
- The Magpies have not won any of their last nine away games in the league (lost seven, drew two).
- However, their draw at Old Trafford in their last away match ended a run of seven straight defeats away from home.