Will the Magpies send the Londoners down to the Championship?
With just two matchdays left in the Premier League, the visitors’ situation is precarious, to say the least. Sitting third from the bottom, the “Hammers”—who won the Conference League just three years ago—are on the brink of relegation!
Given this situation, the Londoners have their backs against the wall, and we’re offering you a tip for the match between Newcastle and West Ham. The visitors are desperate for a win in this match. They are already two points behind safety.
On top of that, compared to city rivals Tottenham, who sit in 17th place and are the only team West Ham can still catch up to, their goal difference is clearly worse. Given this, we expect a very attack-minded visiting team that, as described, must secure three points.
In our view, the ingredients for a high-scoring match are therefore perfectly in place, which is why we’re predicting more than two goals and goals from both sides in the match between Newcastle and West Ham.
Furthermore, we believe William Osula is capable of scoring for the home side. The Dane is in fine scoring form heading into the end of the season and has been promoted to the starting lineup for the past five league matches.
He’s repaying that trust—in the majority (3) of those matches, the 22-year-old junior national team player for his home country has scored a goal! The home team, however, should keep a close eye on Tomás Souček at West Ham.
The Czech has scored more goals against Newcastle in the Premier League than against any other opponent (5). Furthermore, he is just one goal or assist away from becoming the second Czech player, after Patrik Berger (38 goals & 31 assists), to reach 50 goal contributions in the Premier League (41 goals & 8 assists)!
Newcastle – West Ham Head-to-Head Record
Newcastle lost their last home game against the Londoners 0-2 last season. However, the home side hasn’t lost two consecutive home league matches against West Ham since February/October 1998.
From the bookmakers’ perspective, this doesn’t seem likely either, as the Newcastle vs. West Ham betting odds favor a “Magpies” victory.
Newcastle – West Ham Prediction
Both teams are looking back on a weak season, but while the home side has once again gotten off lightly, West Ham is heading for a “catastrophe” with relegation to the Championship. The visitors must win to at least keep their chances of staying up alive for now.
We therefore expect an open match and are selecting the Newcastle vs. West Ham odds for over two goals and both teams to score. This is also supported by the fact that both teams have vulnerable defenses.
For example, Newcastle has kept a clean sheet only once in their last 14 Premier League games—a 1-0 win at Chelsea in March.
Furthermore, the home defense tends to break down significantly toward the end of matches. This is evident in the fact that Newcastle has conceded the most goals in the final 15 minutes of league games this season (20).
The only team to concede more goals in this phase of the game in a single season and avoid relegation was Crystal Palace in the 2023/24 season (23). The prediction is supported by the statistics: Only two of the past six Premier League clashes did not feature three or more goals and goals scored by both sides!
Furthermore, Newcastle’s home games have generally been high-scoring this season: they average 3.4 goals, and 14 of their 18 home matches have ended with more than 2.5 goals—both the highest figures in the Premier League’s home standings!
