The background
West Ham United return to Barclays Premier League action following the international break on Monday when they host 18th-placed Newcastle United.
The Magpies dropped into the bottom three of the early top flight table on Saturday after taking just two points from their opening four games.
Defeats to Arsenal and Swansea City and draws with Manchester United and Southampton have meant new boss Steve McClaren has had a mixed start to life in the St James’ Park hotseat, following the club’s narrow escape from relegation last term.
The Magpies needed a victory over West Ham on the final day of last season to finish the job for themselves and will be keen to avoid another campaign of struggle.
West Ham, meanwhile, are hoping for their first home points of the campaign following Boleyn Ground defeats to Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth.
Having made four deadline day signings, the likes of Victor Moses, Michail Antonio and Nikica Jelavic could be in line for debuts.
The history
West Ham and Newcastle have faced each other on 127 occasions in competitive action. Newcastle hold the edge, having won 51 of those matches to the Hammers’ 39.
The clubs first met in the FA Cup back in February 1908, when a 2-0 victory for the Magpies ended the then-Southern League Hammers’ interest in the competition.
Two more cup ties followed before the first league meeting in 1923, which also produced West Ham’s first win over the north east side.
Last season, Aaron Cresswell notched the only goal of the game when the two teams faced off at the Boleyn Ground, while Moussa Sissoko and Jonas Gutierrez secured the Magpies’ Premier League safety when they won 2-0 against West Ham on the final day of the campaign.
The Hammers’ Andy Carroll played 80 league games for Newcastle at the start of his career.
Match Info
Team News
West Ham United
Slaven Bilic could hand debuts to three of his four deadline day signings, with only Alex Song (ankle) absent from the quartet.
Andy Carroll is available for selection again following his long-term knee injury, while Carl Jenkinson returns following a suspension.
However, Adrian is still out as he serves the third game of his three-match ban, meaning Darren Randolph will again deputise in goal.
Newcastle United
The Magpies are without striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is serving a three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal.
Meanwhile, defender Paul Dummett is also sidelined after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Match facts
- Monday’s referee is Anthony Taylor. He will be assisted by John Brooks and Peter KIrkup. The fourth official is Neil Swarbrick.
- The Hammers have won only one of their last five Premier League meetings with Newcastle, drawing two and losing two.
- Meanwhile, West Ham have won just two of the last nine Boleyn Ground games against the Magpies, with three draws and four defeats in that time.
- However, Aaron Cresswell’s goal gave them victory last time out in E13.
- West Ham have scored with 22 percent of their shots this season – a Barclays Premier League high.
- Newcastle have failed to score in their last three Premier League games, losing two and drawing the other
Tickets, coverage, weather and other info
- Monday’s game is our Boys of ’86 match, with several members of that famous Hammers team returning to the Boleyn Ground for the occasion.
- Tickets have sold out for the game, but may become available online as Season Ticket Holders relist on Ticket Trader.
- You can follow the matchday live on our official Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as in our live match centre here on whufc.com. Get involved with the conversation on Twitter using #WHUNEW.
- Monday is looking like a showery day, although they should clear up by kick-off. Temperature is predicted to be 13C (55F) at kick-off.
- The District and Hammersmith & City lines serving Upton Park station are scheduled to run as normal on Monday. Check tfl.gov.uk for up-to-the-minute reports.
- The latest news on National Rail services can be found here, while information on the roads is here.