FOOTBALL journalist Adam Goodwin (@AGJournalism) takes a look at Saturday evening's contest between West Ham and Newcastle in the Premier League.
West Ham v Newcastle | Saturday 2nd March 2019, 17:30 | Sky Sports
West Ham have won just one of their last seven games but they’re a lot better at home, losing just one of their last eight games at the London Stadium in all competitions. This includes a win over Arsenal and a draw with Liverpool. They also put up a decent fight against Manchester City during the week, losing just 1-0.
Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini are both coming back into the Hammers fold and, alongside Felipe Anderson and Michail Antonio, look to have a real strike force coming together. With likes of Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna at the back, West Ham are starting to form a decent side. I can see them really pushing on for the rest of this season and onto next season under Manuel Pellegrini, too.
Newcastle
In contrast to West Ham, Newcastle are in decent form (W4-D1-L1) but their away record isn’t up to scratch. They’ve won just two away games this season and they seem far more comfortable when playing in-front of a home crowd at St. James’ Park.
Their good form of late has partly been down to new record signing Miguel Almiron. The Paraguayan signed from MLS side Atlanta United in January and has seriously impressed since arriving on Tyneside. However, I think Declan Rice will be tasked with marking Almiron and I can see the future England star will stop any service coming into Newcastle’s star man.
The betting angle
After all that, this is a simple one for me: West Ham to win at 23/20 with Bet365.
The Hammers’ home form has been impressive, and Newcastle’s away form has been very poor so I think the Hammers can get back to winning ways here. I
can see them scoring a few goals against Rafa Benitez’s side who might take their foot of the gas now they’re moving further away from the relegation zone.
Best Bets
West Ham v Newcastle – West Ham to win (23/20 Bet365)
