West Ham United will clash heads with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park this Saturday evening as they hope to earn a positive result on the road. The Hammers managed to secure a 2-0 win over Derby County which will keep them in high spirits ahead of this game.
David Moyes will probably set his side up in a 3-4-2-1 formation and is expected to name a strong team for this game. Said Benrahma could get a chance to play from the start while Pablo Fornals makes way for him and drops to the bench.
3-4-2-1 West Ham United Predicted Lineup To Face Newcastle United
Defence
Lukasz Fabianski will function in between the sticks for the Hammers after being rested in the FA Cup recently. West Ham could opt for a back three of Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd as they try to keep the Newcastle attackers frustrated throughout the 90 minutes.
Aaron Cresswell will offer cover for the defensive positions on the bench.
Midfield
Declan Rice and Lucas Paqueta will anchor the midfield for West Ham as they focus on winning the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park.
Emerson Palmieri is expected to start as the left-sided wide player while Vladimir Coufal fills in on the other flank as the right wing-back. Both of them need to keep things solid at the back and made some overlapping runs out on the flanks.
The dynamic duo of Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen will operate as the free-flowing attacking midfielders in the opposition half. They would have to carry most of the creative workload for the Hammers in the final third.
Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini and Tomas Soucek will have to settle for a spot on the bench and might come on to influence the game in the second half if Moyes decides to call upon their services.
Attack
Michail Antonio will spearhead Moyes’ attack on his own up top. He managed to get his name on the scoresheet in the win over Derby County in the FA Cup which will give him some much-needed confidence ahead of this game at St. James’ Park.
Danny Ings is a major doubt and is unlikely to recover in time for this clash versus the Magpies. However, Divin Mubama will be named on the bench as he waits for his chance to catch the eye in the latter stages if West Ham are in need of a goal by then.
