Newcastle skipped the previous round, so the forty had a whole week more to prepare. It is difficult to say whether such a break was good for the team. After two-week breaks for international matches Newcastle lost to Manchester United (1:4) and Chelsea (0:2). In the last five league matches the Magpies have earned seven points. Newcastle beat Crystal Palace (2:0) and Everton (2:1), drew with Wolverhampton (1:1), lost to Chelsea (0:2) and Southampton (0:2). At the moment, Newcastle is in 13th position, located at almost the same distance between the relegation zone and the Champions League zone. At home, Newcastle is not very confident in this championship. The Magpies lost to Brighton at St. James Park (0:3), Manchester United (1:4) and Chelsea (0:2), at the same time they won against Burnley (3:1) and Everton (2:1). Paul Dummett is injured at Newcastle. The participation of seven players at once is questionable, including Allan Saint-Maximin, Jamaal Lassells, Isak Hayden, Andy Carroll, Ryan Fraser, Dwight Gale and Martin Dubravka.
The Hammers played host to Manchester United in the last round. The team performed well in the match. Won the first half, but a failure in the middle of the second half of the game cost three goals into their goal and ended in a 1:3 defeat. Thus, West Ham’s series of three consecutive victories ended. During this period David Moyes’ wards managed to achieve success in matches with Fulham (1:0), Sheffield United (1:0) and Aston Villa (2:1). On the road the Hammers beat only the hopeless outsider Sheffield United. Although, in general, West Ham looks decent on fields of rivals in the current championship. The London club lost away only to Arsenal (1:2) and Liverpool (1:2), took points from Tottenham (3:3) and besides that the blades also defeated Leicester (3:0). In the standings West Ham are now in eighth position, being four points behind the top four. The attacking potential of the Londoners was weakened by the injury of Michale Antonio, who was retired indefinitely. The participation in the match of Ryan Fredericks and Andrey Yarmolenko is in question.
