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West Ham logo
Premier League | Gameweek 1
Sep 12, 2020 at 8pm UK
London Stadium
Newcastle logo

West Ham
0 - 2
Newcastle


Fredericks (54'), Yarmolenko (70')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Wilson (56'), Hendrick (87')
Hayden (13'), Manquillo (68')

Preview: West Ham United vs. Newcastle United - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Premier League clash between West Ham United and Newcastle United, including team news and predicted lineups.

West Ham United and Newcastle United meet at the London Stadium in the opening round of Premier League fixtures on Saturday night.

Both teams finished last season in the bottom half of the division and will be looking to kick off the 2020-21 campaign in winning style.


Match preview

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce watches on as Andy Carroll comes on for Joelinton on June 24, 2020© Reuters

Even by West Ham's standards, taking on the mantle of 'crisis club' before the season has even started takes quite some doing.

With a fans' protest planned for Saturday's match, though, it looks like it may be another season of hostility in East London.

Supporters are upset at the unpopular owners' decision to cash in on youngster Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion, with captain Mark Noble among those to hit out.

Tomas Soucek being signed permanently represents the Hammers' only incoming activity since finishing 16th last season, five points above the relegation zone.

The side got off to a slow start last season, and that tends to be a theme for them in many ways - they have lost their opening league match in the last four seasons.

Not since Wimbledon between 1986 and 1990 has a team lost their opening top-flight game five years running, with West Ham shipping at least four goals in three of those matches.

Stuart Pearce pictured alongside David Moyes at West Ham in May 2018© Reuters

David Moyes's men have been pretty busy since the end of last season - compared to most of their Premier League rivals, at least - having played four friendlies.

The first three of those ended in victory before they fell to a 5-3 loss at the hands of freshly-relegated Bournemouth last weekend in their final summer outing.

Newcastle's shortened pre-season campaign also ended in defeat, the Magpies losing 1-0 against Stoke City. That made it back-to-back losses following a 5-1 defeat to Middlesbrough.

It has been a summer dominated by takeover talk as far as the North-East outfit are concerned - some things never change - but Mike Ashley now seems certain to stick around for another year.

The good news for Newcastle's disgruntled fans is that Ashley has splashed the cash, spending a combined £35m to sign Callum Wilson and Jamal Lewis this week.

Ryan Fraser has also arrived from Bournemouth on a free which, combined with no first-team stars moving on, means that Steve Bruce's squad will be stronger this time around.

Kicking off this new season with victory will now be the target for Newcastle, who have won nine Premier League games away to West Ham - only versus Tottenham Hotspur (10) do they have a better return.

West Ham United pre-season form: WWWL

Newcastle United pre-season form: WWLL


Team News

West Ham United's Michail Antonio celebrates scoring against Norwich City in the Premier League on July 11, 2020© Reuters

Manuel Lanzini is West Ham's only injury doubt for Saturday, with Moyes - the favourite to be the first Premier League boss sacked - otherwise having a full group to choose from.

After impressing towards the end of last season, Ben Johnson is competing with Ryan Fredericks for a starting spot at right-back.

Elsewhere, Michail Antonio scored eight goals in seven games to see out 2019-20 and, in the absence of any strikers being signed, will likely lead the line this weekend.

As for Newcastle, they have Wilson - the scorer of 22 top-flight goals in his last two seasons with Bournemouth - to spearhead their attack.

Fellow newbie Fraser is not yet fit, though, so Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin should start in the wide positions.

Matt Ritchie is carrying an injury and Fabian Schar is also doubtful, while first-choice keeper Martin Dubravka is definitely out and will be replaced in goal by Karl Darlow.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Noble, Fornals; Antonio

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Darlow; Manquillo, Lascelles, Fernandez, Lewis; Almiron, Shelvey, Hayden, Longstaff, Saint-Maximin; Wilson


SM words green background

We say: West Ham United 1-1 Newcastle United

Between them, West Ham boss Moyes (eight) and Newcastle counterpart Bruce (five) have lost more Premier League games on matchday one (13) than the other 18 current managers in the competition combined (11).

Both teams will be targeting all three points from this tough-to-call contest, but we can see the spoils being shared at the London Stadium.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data


Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United win with a probability of 47.77%. A win for Newcastle United had a probability of 27.37% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.

The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.4%) and 2-0 (8.21%). The likeliest Newcastle United win was 0-1 (7.39%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.79%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood.


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Newcastle boss Steve Bruce on June 24, 2020
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4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014


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