West Ham (H) Pre-match thoughts, team news, possible line-ups & prediction
After back-to-back wins in the Carabao Cup saw us book a place at Wembley, Premier League football returns to St James' Park this weekend.
Tuesday was surreal, emotional and a magical moment we all deserved after years of neglect and no hope under you know who. Our first final since 1999 awaits, but first we have three big games in our bid for a top four finish.
West Ham arrive on Tyneside after steadying what looked like a sinking ship under David Moyes. They won just one of their last nine in the league and sit 16th, but have won three of their last four in all competitions.
Following the highs we experienced in midweek, it's vital we regain our focus and continue to build momentum in the league, with us coming into this one just three points above Spurs and level with a Man Utd side who have two winnable home games over the next week.
Speaking ahead of the game, here's what Eddie Howe's had to say:
"We tried to refocus the players and try to get their minds very much back on the now. West Ham's a very difficult game so if we're off it in any way, it'll be harder.
"I think I'm blessed with the fact that the group itself is very committed to what we're doing and I think they know that we can't switch off and think of the final with three huge games in between.
"The beauty of quite an experienced group is that they've seen it before, maybe in different ways and not necessarily in this type of cup final but they've been through similar experiences.
"They know the quality of the Premier League and if we drop our levels, we'll get punished, so I think there's that immediate thought that we want to continue our good league form. We want the crowd to embrace positivity of what happened and keep that excitement for the cup final but, hopefully, expressing it in our league games as well."
Team news
Bruno Guimaraes begins his three game ban following a late red card against Southampton. It remains to be seen if Alexander Isak will be OK after potential concussion in midweek.
However, Anthony Gordon and Harrison Ashby should both make the squad after training this week. Matt Targett has returned to light training, but he will miss out alongside Javier Manquillo and Emil Krafth.
For the visitors, new signing Danny Ings 'has a chance' of returning, but Gianluca Scamacca, Kurt Zouma and Maxwel Cornet have all been ruled out.
Predicted line ups
(4-3-3): Pope – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton – Almiron, Wilson, Saint-Maximin.
With Bruno suspended, it's almost certain that Joelinton will drop into midfield alongside Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff. After all, they are our only fit midfielders following Jonjo Shelvey's late exit.
That creates a space to fill on the left and I'm very confident Allan Saint-Maximin comes in. It would be the Frenchman's first Premier League start for five months, but Howe spoke highly of the winger in his pre-match press conference, saying he was in a great place physically and ready to play a huge role over the second half of the season.
Not only that, I believe he can help make up for the creativity we miss without Bruno. With Gordon unlikely to be thrown straight in, this could be one of several defining games for ASM between now and the summer.
Up top, doubts over Alexander Isak's head injury mixed with Callum Wilson's history against the Hammers (nine goals in his last 11) leaves me backing the latter to start.
Prediction
This is going to be a tougher game than our league positions suggest. It's third against 16th, but we'll be without Bruno and must refocus and after Tuesday night's high.
However, I fancy Wilson to come good against the side he always scores against and Saint-Maximin to give us that spark we'd otherwise miss in Bruno's absence.
I'm going for a narrow win over the Hammers for Eddie Howe's high-flying Mags!
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 West Ham
