Mark Lawrenson predicts result of West Ham United Premier League clash v Newcastle United
Mark Lawrenson has backed West Ham to keep their positive momentum going by earning a draw against Newcastle on Wednesday (5 April).
The Hammers earned a vital 1-0 win over Southampton on Sunday (2 April) to move out of the relegation zone, while the Magpies claimed a big win over Manchester United at St James’ Park to move into 3rd in the table.
But both teams are riding a wave of positivity coming into the game, and while making his picks for Paddy Power (4 April), he tipped David Moyes’ side to get a hard-fought draw at home.
“West Ham got a big win at the weekend. It wasn’t brilliant but all you can do in that position is win,” he said.
“Newcastle were very good against Manchester United and thoroughly deserved the win. It looks like they’re back to their clean-sheet best which is the basis for that.
“West Ham don’t normally lose too many at home in the league, though. West Ham 1-1 Newcastle.”
Must not lose
West Ham have been in a bad position all season in the league table, and just because we sit in 14th right now that hasn’t changed.
The win got us out of the drop zone, but at the time of writing we sit just one point outside the bottom three and there are some really difficult fixtures to come between now and the end of the season.
The fact that we have got some games in hand is helpful to our situation, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t get points on the board to begin with.
With that said however, Newcastle are flying at the moment and are an incredibly well-drilled team with great character and quality.
Defeat would be very bad, but a draw wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world and the fans will be behind this team to push them all the way for a good performance and hopefully the maximum number of points we can get.