Chris Sutton predicts result of West Ham United Premier League showdown v Newcastle United
Chris Sutton has not been impressed by West Ham United’s “very average” performances and is backing Newcastle to beat them this weekend.
The Hammers head to St James’ Park in the Saturday evening kick-off having registered consecutive wins for the first time since October in their last two games.
But writing his predictions for BBC Sport (2 February), Sutton said he wasn’t impressed by West Ham in their win over Derby on Monday in the FA Cup and expects Newcastle’s strong defence to be the difference as he picked the Magpies to win 1-0.
“I watched West Ham at Derby in the FA Cup on Monday night – the Hammers made changes and still won but they were very average indeed,” he said.
“You kind of know how they will be set up at St James’ Park – to sit in, try to frustrate Newcastle and hit them on the counter-attack – while it will be front football from Eddie Howe’s side.
“Even without Bruno Guimaraes, who is starting his suspension for his red card against Saints in midweek, I think they will find a way through.
“The fact that Newcastle are so watertight at the back really helps when games are tight. We’ve seen it with them a few times this season already when things aren’t perfect with their performance, but they still get the job done.”
Don’t lose
West Ham seem to have turned a bit of a corner in recent weeks under Moyes, despite the severe pressure he was under for his job.
The win at Everton gave them a bit of breathing room and then they progressed in the cup too, but they now face a tough game against high-flyers Newcastle away from home.
Most Hammers fans won’t be expecting to come away with all three points on the day because of the level of performance from both sides so far this season, but we know this team is capable of top performances too and can easily frustrate Newcastle.
Losing would be awful as it would undo all the good work done in the win over Everton and could see us in the relegation zone by the end of the weekend, but a draw would likely be seen as a positive result.
How Moyes sets the team up will be pivotal, but not losing must be the biggest priority of the game.