West Ham and Newcastle may struggle for Christmas cheer

Kick-off 3pm Saturday

West Ham put in one of their best performances of the season to defeat Stoke 3-0 last weekend but they may struggle to play with the same fluency against Newcastle.

The Irons had not scored more than two goals in any of their previous 17 league games this season and they are without suspended Manuel Lanzini, who is by far their most creative player.

Newcastle arrive in London low on confidence and need a positive result to stop the rot. The Magpies are likely to be cautious and West Ham may struggle to break them down.

Recommendation
Under 2.5 goals
1pt 8-11 Betfred, BoyleSports

Bet on this game at Soccerbase.com

Team news
West Ham
Michail Antonio (calf) is a doubt, Mark Noble (hamstring) is out and Manuel Lanzini completes a two-game ban but Cheikhou Kouyate is back in training and should return.

Newcastle
Aleksandar Mitrovic (back) and Jesus Gamez (ankle) are injured and Jonjo Shelvey completes a two-game ban.

Key stat
West Ham have scored fewer than two goals in eight of their last nine matches.

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