West Ham United come to St James' Park on Saturday to take on Newcastle United as the Premier League resumes after the international break. Kick-off is at 12:30pm live on TNT Sport.
Newcastle have 10 games remaining this season to climb back up into a European qualification spot and currently sit four points behind Saturday's opposition who have also played one more game than the Magpies.
Given all of the injuries and bad luck that has followed Newcastle around this season it would feel like a bit of a miracle if they were to steal a place in Europe next season, but it is still a completely achievable goal.
A win on Saturday would definitely set things off nicely.
Chris Sutton has made is prediction for the BBC and has backed Eddie Howe's men to grab three points at home, but he thinks it will be a close one.
"Newcastle's hopes of a trophy ended when they were knocked out of the FA Cup before the international break so it feels like a big end to the season for their manager Eddie Howe, starting now.
"The same applies to West Ham boss David Moyes too, because there has been plenty of speculation about his future too, as well as criticism from fans.
"But the Hammers are still in Europe, with a Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen to look forward to, while Newcastle's campaign has unravelled a bit in the past few weeks.
"League position is all Newcastle have to play for now and I don't think Howe can afford to let this campaign peter out. They are four points behind seventh-place West Ham with a game in hand, so a win here would be massive for them.
"And, while Howe's side have not been as strong defensively this season, I still always feel they have a goal in them. That's why I reckon they will edge this.
"Sutton's prediction: 2-1"
Newcastle are hoping to have Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento and Harvey Barnes back from injury for this one, but West Ham fans will no doubt be pleased that Callum Wilson will not be available given the striker's habit of scoring against them.
Both sides have some players who are very capable of causing the other some damage. Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes feeding Alexander Isak will be a threat to the Hammers, but they have Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen in their arsenal.
It definitely has the feeling of a close game, but we agree with Sutton that Newcastle can nick this one.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |