After running a simulation thousands of times, the Opta Supercomputer believes Newcastle United are in a good position to claim a first Premier League away win of the season.
Newcastle United play West Ham on Sunday as Eddie Howe looks to build on a positive week for the team.
Indeed, Newcastle have seemingly put last month’s away defeat at Brighton behind them following wins over Benfica, Fulham and Tottenham in the Champions League, Premier League and Carabao Cup respectively.
Now, attention turns to Newcastle’s next fixture. Howe’s side travel to a West Ham team in full-blown crisis as they look to get their first league away win of the season on the board.
After thousands of simulations, Opta have delivered a promising prediction.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe looks on during a Premier League match against West Ham.
Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images
Opta back Newcastle United to beat West Ham in the Premier League
The Hammers haven’t won a home game this season in four attempts.
With that in mind, it’s perhaps not all that surprising that Opta believe Newcastle have a huge chance of winning at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Opta Analyst said of the game: “On Sunday, West Ham are back at the London Stadium, where Nuno is expected to continue his wait for a first win in charge.
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“After a stuttering start to the season, Newcastle United have regained some stability and are given a 51.5% chance of triumphing, despite their struggles on the road this term.
“Newcastle are winless in their last seven top-flight away matches (D4 L3), failing to score in four of those, but they’ve only lost one of their eight matches at the London Stadium (W5 D2), going unbeaten in their last six visits.
“West Ham, who are given just a 25.3% chance of winning, have made their worst start to a Premier League season after nine matches (four points).
“The Hammers have never previously suffered as many as eight defeats in their first 10 games of a league season, but given they’ve conceded the most goals in the league this campaign (20), they have problems to fix if they want to turn their run around.”
The Opta Analyst describe their supercomputer model as: “The model considers the strength of opponents by using these match outcome probabilities and simulates the remaining fixtures in the competition thousands of times.”
Pressure on Newcastle United after Eddie Howe lifts the mood
Those aforementioned wins have helped change the mood at Newcastle this season. Progress appears to have been made during an intense run of fixtures.
Still, it will mean little if Newcastle do not win at the London Stadium. West Ham are in a state of crisis and not picking up three points would have to be seen as a major disappointment. In fact, it would be a huge setback given their opponents’ form.
Newcastle need to improve their position in the Premier League table. While a slow domestic start was understandable following a draining summer transfer window, it’s not an excuse that can last forever.