Newcastle United are set to clash with West Ham United for their Premier League fixture this weekend at the London Stadium. Both clubs are struggling in the lower half of the Premier League with a meagre 2 point difference between them. The Hammers have appointed David Moyes as their manager after their poor start to the season under Slaven Bilic. The Scotsman lead United to a 1-0 upset against Chelsea in his first game and pulled off a draw against Arsenal in the consecutive fixture. They beat Stoke City undoubtedly with 3 goals to nil at the bet365 Stadium in their last League outing and are favoured to come away with the win in this one.
However, Rafael Benitez’s men might not bow out so easily with their season currently under scrutiny. The Magpies have fallen to the relegation zone after 4 consecutive losses and are eager to capitalise on this matchup. Benitez is eagerly waiting for the January transfer to add some strength and structure to the current squad, however, he will have to work with what he has got now and dig the team out of the bottom three.
The predicted formation for Newcastle in this fixture is 4-4-2.
Defence
Although Benitez favours heavy rotation in this tightly stacked games, Robert Elliot might start again in this fixture ahead of Karl Darlow. The English goalkeeper will look to dish out a good performance in order to establish himself as the number one once again in the starting lineup of the Tyneside club.
DeAndre Yedlin is expected to feature in the right back position with Javier Manquilo on the other end. Yedlin will have his task cut out for him with Arthur Masuaku’s constant attacking threat down the right.
Florian Lejeune is predicted to start in the centre-back role alongside Ciaran Clark.
Midfield
Matt Richie might get the nod along with Isaac Hayden and Mikel Moreno in the matchup in an attempt to flood the centre of the park against the Hammers.
Jacob Murphy can be the wing option to provide width to the side from the right. He will have to take up the task of running at the Hammers defence line and find the empty gaps to assist the 2 strikers up top.
Attack
Joselu has 3 goals to his name and is expected to start alongside Dwight Gayle. The duo is currently the clubs highest goalscorers but has mostly been ineffective without quality service from the midfield. However, with the trio fielded behind they should look to improve on their goal tally and get their side the win.
