After gameweek 36’s antics, the penultimate matchweek has arrived upon us, where Nuno’s side will travel up to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle United, whose season has been topsy-turvy and certainly a disappointment in comparison to last season.
Eddie Howe is currently fighting to keep his job at Newcastle United, which has become a topic of discussion in recent weeks, with the season coming to a close, but the same could also be said about Nuno Espirito Santo, albeit his circumstances are very different.
West Ham’s fate in the Premier League could be decided within the next four days as a defeat to Newcastle would mean Spurs would essentially need a singular point to relegate the Hammers, but Nuno’s side could also see the possibility of being out the relegation zone, if a win was acheived at St James’ and a loss for Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday occured - certainly a week of possibilities!
Looking at the game, Newcastle are currently suffering with two doubts as Joelinton’s injury could see him miss out, as well as Anthony Gordon’s, who’s also returning from an injury, but Howe is also admitting he could select a lineup for the ‘future’ amid speculation about Gordon’s departure to German giants, Bayern Munich, this summer.
The Hammers will have a fully-fit side available against Newcastle United, bar Adama Traore, who picked up an injury in training, ruling him out for Sunday’s game, but a possibility that he could return on the final day against Leeds United.
Excluding the 22 players on the pitch, the other people to consider are the officials as well as those on VAR, given the antics that occurred last weekend, as well as the weekend before, where VAR has now officially admitted in hindsight that West Ham should’ve had TWO penalties against Brentford! Whilst the neutral fan may suggest that no dodgy behaviour is going on, questions certainly need to be raised… the officials for the match on Sunday are IDENTICAL to the officials Spurs had when they played Leeds on Monday night… a bizarre chance!
The referee will be Jarred Gillett, and on VAR, we will have Craig Pawson with Nick Hopton as his assistant.
The officials have proved to be costly in the past two weeks, and Hammers fans will need to hope these persistent incidents that occur aren’t incorrectly impactful for the two remaining fixtures.
Newcastle United ultimately is an ‘all or nothing’ as a loss would practically mirror the end, but a victory could put us in the driving seat come the final day.
All is to play for, but these could be the official deciding days for West Ham’s foreseeable future.
