West Ham v Newcastle – Match preview.
Posted on October 22nd, 2010 | 105 Comments |
Hughton was actually in charge of Newcastle the last time the two sides met at Upton Park back in September 2008 in which The Hammers strolled to a 3-1 victory in his caretaker capacity.
I think it is fair to say that a win for Newcastle would be a good result, and given the poor run of home form the team seem to be going through right now I would also say that gaining the three points away from home is something we will need to do at somepoint during the season in our efforts to secure Premier League survival.
Kevin Nolan will be back in the squad for the trip to the capital after being rested last week to allow a niggling ankle injury to calm down whilst Danny Simpson will be pushing for a start at the expense of James Perch after coming through his third reserve game in midweek unscathed.
Hughton has said that he will pick players judged on what they do on the training pitch, so with that in mind I would expect to see Andy Carroll involved in proceedings despite his recent predicament. Hatem Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor, Dan Gosling, Steve Harper and Sol Campbell are all on the sidelines with various injuries, which means I would expect to see a team of;
Newcastle – Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Cheick Tiote, Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez, Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll.
West Ham are currently rooted to the bottom of the table despite being unbeaten in the last five games, a run that has included victories over Sunderland (get in) and Tottenham. They will be hoping to make the most of Newcastle’s awful form in the capital, but they will have to look for the win without the services of Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh), Zavon Hines (knee) and Jack Collison (knee).
The Hammers drew 1-1 at Wolves in their last Premier League encounter where they fielded a team of;
West Ham – Robert Green, Danny Gabbidon, Lars Jacobsen, Tal Ben Haim, Manuel Da Costa, Scott Parker, Mark Noble, Kieron Dyer, Luis Boa Morte, Frederic Piquionne, Victor Obinna.
Upton Park is not an easy place to go to, although Newcastle have been surprisingly decent on the road so far this season. I expect a tough game, and I also expect to be kicked in the balls by former Magpies Scott Parker or Kieron Dyer, or both probably.
My prediction: West Ham 2-0 Newcastle.
Howay the lads!
I can’t see anything other than another defeat tbh, although hope im wrong.