West Ham United will travel to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Newcastle United picked up a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Burnley at Turf Moor in their previous outing, and are hoping to stave off relegation in the coming weeks. So it won’t be a straightforward game for the Hammers.
West Ham United, on the other hand, extended their winning run last time by beating Leicester City in a thrilling 3-2 contest. A brace from the man in form Jesse Lingard, along with Jarrod Bowen’s winner, aided the Hammers to jump back into the top four in the league table.
Newcastle will hope to spring a surprise after a change in form of late, but West Ham will be the favourites heading into the game.
8 goals and 3 assists in 9 PL appearances for West Ham!
No one can stop Jesse Lingard 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fOZmnbwPNT
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 11, 2021
West Ham United Team News
Declan Rice will be a big miss for West Ham due to his knee injury. His presence in midfield gave the defence added protection, and he also drove forward with purpose. Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, Darren Randolph and Andriy Yarmolenko have also been ruled been out.
Veteran midfielder Mark Noble and left-back Aaron Cresswell face a race against time to be fit for this weekend’s clash and make the squad if not the West Ham United lineup.
Predicted West Ham United lineup vs Newcastle United (3-4-1-2)
Defence
Lukasz Fabianski will take his position between the sticks for Hammers. He’ll be hoping for a quieter game than the one against Leicester City last weekend.
Issa Diop and Craig Dawson will keep their respective places in the West Ham United lineup. Fabian Balbuena will replace Aaron Cresswell if the latter is unable to make the lineup
Midfield
Mark Noble should start the game but only if he is 100% fit. David Moyes lacks central midfielders and this is one position they need to take care of in the upcoming summer window. Noble will be partnered by Tomas Soucek in the middle of the park.
Predicted West Ham United Lineup vs Newcastle United
In Rice’s absence, Soucek will have an important role to play. The wingback spots will be occupied by Vladimir Coufal and Arthur Masuaku.
Attack
Michael Antonio will be a huge miss but the Hammers will hope that Jesse Lingard’s purple patch continues. He will have to drive the team forward and unlock Newcastle’s defence.
Jarrod Bowen, who is on fire right now, is expected to line up with Lingard in attack. The 24-year old has three goals and an assist to his name in the last three Premier League games. Pablo Fornals should continue in the number 10 position as he did against Leicester City.
