From Mark Lawrenson to Alan Shearer, the big five pundits have delivered their verdicts on West Ham’s clash with Newcastle United.
West Ham were last in action 12 long days ago as they welcome Newcastle to London Stadium on Monday night.
Sky Sports and the Premier League have, in their infinite wisdom, moved the match for live TV coverage – just as they did the reverse fixture.
It means a 565-mile round-trip for the visiting Newcastle fans on a Monday.
They will be making the long trip south hoping Eddie Howe’s inconsistent Magpies can jump back into the European places with a win.
West Ham are looking to make it three consecutive Premier League wins under Graham Potter after beating Arsenal and Leicester.
The Hammers can jump three places above Spurs and Man United with a victory.
Newcastle face West Ham with a host of key players unavailable.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
West Ham have made a major striker announcement just hours before kick-off.
It promises to be an intriguing game.
And there are always goals when West Ham and Newcastle meet.
The fixture has averages three per game throughout history.
Potter has been boosted by the return to training of Lucas Paqueta and Niclas Fullkrug this week.
The manager has confirmed Paqueta is fit to play but suggests it is too soon for Fullkrug.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Four of five big pundits agree on West Ham vs Newcastle
A West Ham win can really light a fire under the Potter era.
Howe faces a real selection dilemma with the big Carabao Cup final against Liverpool looming large this Sunday.
But how do the experts see it going?
Mark Lawrenson and Alan Shearer are among 4 of 5 big pundits agreeing on the West Ham vs Newcastle clash.
Chris Sutton has praised West Ham’s improvement under Potter.
The pundit does not believe Newcastle will beat the Hammers, predicting a 1-1 draw.
Sutton says Newcastle won’t beat improving West Ham
“West Ham are showing signs of improvement under Graham Potter and are going for a third-straight win,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“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.”
Merson says Newcastle cup distraction will help Hammers win
Paul Merson says West Ham is a ‘hard game for Newcastle’.
And Merson believes the spectre of the cup final means the Hammers will go one better than Sutton’s prediction by winning 2-0.
“If it weren’t for the cup final next week, I would have backed Newcastle,” Merson told SportsKeeda.
“I think they will be cautious about more players picking up injuries, and that might hurt them against West Ham.”
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Expert says results before cup finals don’t bode well for Magpies
Sky Sports’ leading football analyst Lewis Jones has his own prediction column, Jones Knows.
He agrees with Merson that West Ham will win and predicts Potter’s side will edge out Newcastle 2-1.
Jones has researched results for teams who are about to play in cup finals. And it’s a bad omen for the Magpies.
“What is on the horizon has not been factored into the betting enough,” Jones said in his Sky Sports column.
“Eddie Howe can talk as much as he wants about complete focus being on this game but players will have one eye on next Sunday’s Wembley date against Liverpool.
“Their overall performance is likely to be affected based on past fixtures involving teams in their final game before a cup final. If you take out Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea from the equation, of the 21 clubs to reach a major domestic final, 13 of them suffered a defeat in the game before the final.
“Some of those defeats were shock results too, like Watford losing 4-1 to West Ham at home before the 2019 FA Cup final and Crystal Palace losing 4-1 away at Southampton before the 2016 FA Cup final.
“Being without Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall is another huge blow for the Toon, who are so dangerous down the left flank when that pair combine.
“West Ham to win 2-1.”
Lawrenson and Shearer disagree on West Ham vs Newcastle result
Lawrenson rarely ever backed West Ham to win during his BBC Sport prediction days.
But he’s bucked the trend this week.
Lawro agrees with Jones, praising the way Potter is quietly improving West Ham. And he thinks it will be 2-1 to the Hammers with Jarrod Bowen key.
“West Ham have started to build up a bit of a head of steam while Newcastle are starting to pick up a few problems and they’ll all be thinking about the Carabao Cup final,” Lawro said.
“Antony Gordon was a very silly boy at the weekend and he’s out as well so I fancy the Hammers here.
“They’re doing alright on the quiet and having Jarrod Bowen back for them is so important.”
It should be no real surprise that Newcastle legend Shearer is the only one of the big five pundits who thinks West Ham will lose.
Shearer believes Newcastle will want to go into the final off the back of a win.
And he says their record at West Ham gives him confidence.
“Newcastle need to get some form back. It could well be the kind of game they want before a cup final,” Shearer told The Metro.
“They were really poor in the second-half against Brighton in the FA Cup and need to get some form back, it will be very difficult just turning up in a cup final without that.
“They’ve got a decent record at West Ham as well, so I’m going to go for an away win. Prediction: Newcastle win.”