Good afternoon and welcome to the Telegraph’s live Premier League coverage of West Ham’s clash against Newcastle at the London Stadium on this Sunday afternoon.
We are almost three months into this current campaign, and West Ham already have had more managers this season than their total number of league wins. With just one win from their opening nine league games, the east London club are enduring their worst ever start to a Premier League season, and the mood around the club can hardly be more sombre, sitting in 19th place, six points from safety.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is under no illusions about West Ham’s misfortunes this season, but remains hopeful that their terrible season can kickstart into life against Newcastle this afternoon, with a first home league victory at the fifth attempt. The Portuguese is hoping to have the full support of the home supporters, who have notably voiced their discontent towards the club’s board on several occasions this season.
The 51-year-old in his pre-match press conference, said: “It’s a reality that it’s been tough – we can’t hide from that. I hope we can connect with our fans well, and that the fans can see a good performance from the start. We need to be strong at home, and we need to compete.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe will be searching for the club’s first away league win this campaign at the London Stadium, and he is intent on building momentum for the north-east club after an unsettled start to the season.
Victory this afternoon would represent Newcastle’s first back to back league wins since April. Howe, speaking in his pre-match conference, said: “It [Winning back to back league games] will be huge for us. It’s only with back to back wins are we going to propel ourselves up the league table. There’s a lot of teams around us in the table and you are looking for one win to break out of it. These next two games are big games for us.”
Can West Ham claim their first home league victory this season to appease the ever-growing restless supporters in east London? Or will Newcastle pile more misery onto their opponents and secure their first away league win in eight matches?
Team news to follow shortly.
