Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
New signings Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saivet may make their Newcastle debuts, while Rolando Aarons and Emmanuel Riviere are back after injuries.
Siem de Jong, Kevin Mbabu and Papiss Cisse are all out, while Cheick Tiote will not feature as he is negotiating a move to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
West Ham trio Victor Moses, Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate are fit again.
But the Hammers are without Manuel Lanzini, Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll for the trip to St James’ Park.
Carroll suffered a hamstring injury in midweek and is expected to be sidelined for between four and six weeks.
Editor’s Note: Newcastle may have only drawn 3-3 with Manchester United on Wednesday but that late equaliser from Paul Dummett probably felt like a winner for the St James Park faithful. Although they bagged a point by the end of the gameweek they found themselves second bottom so it’s almost one step forward and two steps back.
Steve McClaren’s side have been playing better than the results would suggest as of late but just playing well doesn’t get you points, you need to score as well. The fact they scored 3 on Wednesday will give them a boost of confidence and the arrivals of Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saviet should give the side some extra impetus.
But unfortunately for them they play host to a West Ham side who are now 5th in the League and are 8 matches unbeaten with the last 3 being victories. On Wednesday they came from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1 and with Dimitri Payet back pulling the strings in Midfield they will certainly fancy their chances this Afternoon.
Injuries seem to be the issue at West Ham this season but credit to Slaven Bilic at times he has managed to patch up a side and still get results. With Enner Valencia back in the side and scoring goals that will give The Hammers another boost as they look to close the gap on Tottenham in 4th place.
I think it will be another happy away day for West Ham this afternoon and more relegation battle misery for Newcastle. An away win for me.
