Key events
So where is the game? Newcastle will look to use Woltemade as a pivot, playing into him as he drops off, with Barnes, Ramsey and Osula attacking space in behind. And I’d also expect him to hit the box, looking to get on the end of crosses, especially high ones, with width supplied by Trippier and Lewis Hall. Otherwise, Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali will look to control midfield, outrunning but also outplaying West Ham’s trio.
As for West Ham, they go for experience, Callum Wilson surprisingly replacing Taty Castellanos.
Newcastle make two changes to the side which drew at Forest. In come Kieran Trippier, making his last appearance at SJP – and what an impact he’s had – and Harvey Barnes, with Dan Burn and Joelinton dropping out. Anthony Gordon, likely to leave in the summer, remains on the bench, Eddie Howe having previously said he’d be looking to next season with his selections.
And, in the meantime, we’ve plenty to keep you in thrall:
I’ll scribble these down, then we’ll think about what they might mean.
Teams!
Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Pope; Trippier, Botman, Thiaw, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali; Ramsey, Woltemade, Barnes; Osula. Subs: Burn, Elanga, Gordon, Murphy A, Murphy J, Neave, Ramsdale, Willock, Wissa.
West Ham United (3-4-2-1): Hermansen; Mavropanos, Todibo, Disasi; Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Soucek, Diouf; Bowen, Summerville; Wilson. Subs: Areola, Castellanos, Kanté, Kilman, Magassa, Pablo, Potts, Scarles, Walker-Peters.
Referee: Jarred Gillett: (Gold Coast, Australia)
Preamble
With just a week of the Premier League season remaining, it’s time for some honest reflection: M&S sherbet fruits are the best football snack. Or Mini Eggs the standard at the top is not high. However, the level beneath that – from sixth all the way down to 18th – has never been higher, anywhere.
And for proof, all we need to do is take look at West Ham: it’s arguable that, whether the final relegation slot is filled by them or Tottenham, currently sat two points ahead, no better side will ever have gone down. Matheus Fernandes and Jarrod Bowen are top players; Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos are more than useful; and a goodly number of others are well up to playing top-division football.
Nor is West Ham’s form that of a relegation outfit. In each of the last nine seasons, 36 points has been enough to stay up, but they have that with two games to go – as well as two wins and a draw in their last five.
Of course, they’re being punished now for dreadful form in the early part of the season, especially under Graham Potter, and also for the tremendous behaviour of Sunderland and Leeds, two promoted clubs. But even so, there is no way whatsoever they should be where they are, needing at least one win in their last two games to preserve their status, with even two potentially insufficient.
If they could get the big W tonight, though, they’d put serious pressure on Spurs, who travel to Chelsea on Tuesday and host Everton on the final day. And one victory in six, along with seven home defeats, tell us Newcastle are beatable, the physicality which underpins their best play less pronounced this season and the contribution of Alexander Isak not adequately replaced.
So, though trips to St James’ are never easy, given the way things have gone for Newcastle this term and the nothing for which they have to play, it’s actually one of the better options for a side desperately seeking a result. But Eddie Howe’s men won’t want the shame of another set of players cavorting on their pitch, just as their support won’t want the away contingent leaving with happy vibes, so it’s eyes down for a absolutely tussle that might just be the highest-level 13th v 18th we’ve ever seen; this is absolutely gargantuan.
Kick-off: 5.30pm BST