Former Premier League forwards Paul Merson and Chris Sutton have disagreed in their predictions for West Ham United’s trip to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers, who have only won once in the Premier League away from home all season, head to St James’ Park hoping to record back-to-back league wins for only the second time in the 2022/23 campaign. Ahead of the fixture, former top-flight winning forwards Merson and Sutton have both given their predictions.
Merson, who won the title with Arsenal during his playing career, has remained optimistic for West Ham, despite their poor season. Speaking with SportsKeeda, Merson is predicting West Ham to hold the Magpies to a goalless draw.
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“Newcastle are flying along, but I think this will be a hard game for them,” said Merson. "Bruno Guimaraes can't play this match, and he's going to be a massive miss. Newcastle were playing mind-blowing football against Southampton in the first 30 minutes, but they were just hanging on in the end.
“Defensively, Newcastle are very good. West Ham haven't been great in the Premier League, but they're always a danger and don't get blown away. This is a difficult game for both teams, and I'm going with a draw.”
However, former Norwich City, Chelsea, and Blackburn Rovers striker Sutton has disagreed with Merson and predicts Newcastle will win the game. In his predictions for BBC Sport, Sutton has said that West Ham will suffer a 1-0 defeat on Tyneside.
He believes that even without the influential Bruno Guimaraes, who was sent off against Southampton in the north east side's Carabao Cup semi-final win in midweek, they will still emerge victorious this weekend.
"I watched West Ham at Derby in the FA Cup on Monday night - the Hammers made changes and still won but they were very average indeed," said Sutton. "You kind of know how they will be set up at St James' Park - to sit in, try to frustrate Newcastle, and hit them on the counter-attack - while it will be front football from Eddie Howe's side.
"Even without Bruno Guimaraes, who is starting his suspension for his red card against Saints in midweek, I think they will find a way through. The fact that Newcastle are so watertight at the back really helps when games are tight. We've seen it with them a few times this season already when things aren't perfect with their performance, but they still get the job done."
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