· March 6 2025, 20:30
**West Ham United will host Newcastle United at the London Stadium on Monday night for the 8pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.**
Graham Potter has started to turn things around for West Ham while Newcastle seem to be in a bit of a rut thanks to injuries and suspensions taking their toll on the tiny squad.
Eddie Howe will be looking for a way to set up his side without the creativity down the left flank that the partnership of Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon have become famous for.
Both players will be absent for the next three games, which includes West Ham, the Carabao Cup final and the match against Brentford before Gordon returns from suspension. Lewis Hall will miss the rest of the season, though.
Chris Sutton can't separate the two sides
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Both Hall and Gordon will be big misses for Newcastle and that seems to have made it a tough game to call for Chris Sutton in his column for the [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cq6y914zj95o).
> "West Ham are showing signs of improvement under Graham Potter and are going for a third-straight win."Newcastle boss Eddie Howe's first problem is who is fit and available."I don't think Howe will rest anyone ahead of next weekend's Carabao Cup final, because his side are still going for a top-five finish and it would be huge for the club if they make it back into the Champions League."But there is a doubt over Alexander Isak, Lewis Hall is out for the season and Anthony Gordon is suspended after his red card against Brighton - I saw someone call him 'Rash Gordon' which is a great line."All of that, on top of West Ham's current form, makes me think this will end up in a draw.
>
> "**Sutton's prediction**: 1-1"
There's no denying that Wembley has been a distraction
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We agree with what Sutton says about Howe not resting players. We're at a critical point of the season and that Champions League battle is too tight to call and we can't afford to drop points.
However, as we said in the Paul Merson prediction, we are worried that the players won't be giving 100% on Monday night with an eye on making it to the final the following Sunday.
Once again it feels like the Wembley trip has distracted players and our form has dipped. Hopefully it's something that we can overcome the more finals we reach.