**Newcastle United head to London on Sunday to take on West Ham United in the Premier League with a 2 pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.**
Eddie Howe's men go in search of back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season, and probably couldn't ask for better opposition right now, as West Ham are really struggling this season.
However, the Hammers may be slightly encouraged by the announcement of who will be overseeing VAR for the game on Sunday.
Although at the same time, Newcastle may be happier with the referee appointment than their opponents.
Rob Jones is the man in the middle backed up by Peter Bankes
Peter Bankes is back to haunt Newcastle United again
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Our good friend Peter Bankes will be on VAR on Sunday, making it the fifth Newcastle match this season he's been involved in as either a referee or VAR. Bankes has been an abysmal referee for Newcastle this season, but let's hope his damage is limited given his role on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the man in the middle will be Rob Jones, who failed to produce a red card for Malick Thiaw in the 0-0 draw against Bournemouth when the German made a foul that really should have seen him pick up his second yellow.
In truth, though, not everything Jones did in that game went our way after he failed to spot a blatant shirt-pull on Nick Woltemade in the box, which should have handed Newcastle a penalty.
Hours after we ranted about Peter Bankes being officiating four Newcastle games, they go and make it five
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It's crazy how we'd just covered [Keith Hackett's rant about Peter Bankes having been handed four Newcastle games](https://nufcfeed.com/former-pgmol-chief-blasts-howard-webb-for-referee-scheduling-issue-involving-newcastle-united-1656277) already this season, only for him to be announced as VAR for Sunday.
Something definitely needs to be looked at. Or is Howard Webb trying to assign one team their own referee or something?
We look forward to seeing what blatant mischief Bankes and Jones miss together on Sunday, then. It's going to be fun.