Team in focus: Newcastle United – strengths, weaknesses and prospects

Premier League

West Ham 2 Newcastle 3
Balbuena 73 Clark 16
Snodgrass 90 Fernandez 22, Shelvey 51

West Ham United v Newcastle United match report

Newcastle thoroughly deserved their victory at the London Stadium after laying the foundations for success in a rampant first half.

All three Newcastle goals came via set-pieces with centre-backs Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez making the most of some sloppy defending and it could have been more than two at the break.

Allan Saint-Maximin missed two one-on-one opportunities, the second of which ended with Miguel Almiron's goalbound effort being blocked, and Jonjo Shelvey struck the woodwork before making it 3-0 early in the second half.

Home goals from Fabian Balbuena and Robert Snodgrass set up a thrilling finale but West Ham were well beaten despite finishing with 70 per cent possession.

Newcastle United tactics

Steve Bruce has too often been ultra-negative in a 5-4-1 formation and they remained in that shape without the ball. However, Newcastle were far more adventurous in attack, moving to a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 with Saint-Maximin and Almiron offering support to the previously isolated Joelinton.

Newcastle United strengths

Saint-Maximin, finishing apart, was a joy to watch with his demon dribbling skills giving poor Pablo Zabaleta a hard time. It was quite difficult to watch as the 34-year-old veteran full-back was humiliated on several occasions before being substituted.

The ball-carrying ability of Saint-Maximin and Almiron combined with Joelinton's link-up play always offered Newcastle an avenue to attack and they countered well, albeit against a high Hammers line which was all over the place.

Set-pieces were also a weapon for them and were a factor in all three Newcastle goals.

Newcastle United weaknesses

Almiron, Saint-Maximin and Joelinton did their best work outside of the box and relying on set-pieces is unlikely to cut it throughout the season.

West Ham reserve goalkeeper Roberto was at least partly responsible for two of the goals (Fernandez and Shelvey) and while Newcastle played well, their efforts may well have gone unrewarded had it not been for some generous Hammers defending.

Newcastle United goalscorer bets

Saint-Maximin scored six times for Nice in Ligue 1 last season and they were quite a dour side, so even though he does not always look convincing in front of goal he does get into excellent positions.

View from Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce

"It should have been 6-0 within an hour. The first-half performance was as good as we have played this year. Joelinton, Almiron and Saint-Maximin were a threat and can only get better."

Newcastle United prospects

Only Norwich and Watford are shorter than 2-1 shots Newcastle in the Premier League relegation betting, which feels a little harsh given the Magpies outplayed a West Ham side who are 9-1 for the drop.

Newcastle have lost five matches this season and were awful at Norwich, but their other four defeats were to Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Chelsea.

They have also beaten Tottenham and Manchester United and on this evidence there are likely to be three worse teams at the end of the campaign.

How did West Ham United play?

To quote manager Manuel Pellegrini: "so, so bad."

Striker Sebastien Haller was totally isolated, their midfield – with the exception of Snodgrass – were poor and their defending, including the goalkeeping, was farcical at times.

The Hammers have a tough finish to 2019, with Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester among their fixtures, and the pressure from the stands is growing on Pellegrini.

West Ham United v Newcastle United teams

West Ham 4-1-4-1: Roberto; Zabaleta (Fredericks 72), Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell; Rice; Yarmolenko (Lanzini h-t), Noble (Ajeti h-t), Snodgrass, Anderson; Haller.

Newcastle 5-4-1: Dubravka; Yedlin, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Willems (Dummett 87); Almiron, Hayden, Shelvey, Saint-Maximin (Atsu 77); Joelinton (Carroll 89).

Next three Premier League fixtures

West Ham: Burnley (a), Tottenham (h), Chelsea (a).

Newcastle:Bournemouth (h), Aston Villa (a), Man City (h).

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