Newcastle vs. West Ham Betting Tips: Side with Coufal to be carded at St James'
There is Saturday evening Premier League action live on Sky Sports with a 17:30 kick off this weekend, as Newcastle welcome West Ham to St James’ Park. We've got our punting-guru Dean Woodward on hand with his best bets for the game after his main selection landed after four minutes in his betting preview last weekend.
Eddie Howe has worked wonders since taking charge of Newcastle, sitting in third place in the Premier League in February. They currently have conceded the least amount of goals in the Premier League, 11, with Arsenal the second lowest conceding five goals more. They are also joint with Arsenal on losses this season, both registering just one defeat across the whole campaign, showing how good this Newcastle side really is.
After his horrible challenge on Samuel Edozie in midweeks Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, Bruno Guimaraes will miss the next three games for the Magpies, meaning he will miss this fixture followed by games against Bournemouth and Liverpool, before being available for the final against Manchester United. This could give Allan Saint-Maximin just his fifth start of the season, with Joelinton likely to drop back in order to bolster the midfield.
West Ham have looked just a shadow of their former 21/22 season selves where they finished 7th in the Premier League, this season sitting in 16th place after twenty games, just one point from the relegation zone, it has been a struggle for the Hammers. Scoring just seventeen goals all season and travelling to the best defence in the league it's going to be tough for David Moyes who will be desperate for any kind of result in order to help secure survival.
Declan Rice, Lucas Paqueta and Vladimir Coufal were all rested in midweeks FA Cup game against Derby, all likely to make a start here against Newcastle. A much needed goal for Michael Antonio in midweek may help return some confidence to the West Ham striker, who has only managed to find the net twice in 903 minutes of Premier League football this season. Bowen has returned to goalscoring form, netting three in his last two games, and will likely partner Benrahma in playing either side of Antonio.
Newcastle vs West Ham Tips
@DeanWoodward93 BettingOddsUK Profit since Jan2022 - +41.14units / 53% ROI
Not one of my most backed markets available, but a price that looks quite generous on home soil for Newcastle to win to nil on Saturday evening.
Newcastle have conceded the least goals in the Premier League this season, just 11 goals across 20 matches and it's hard to think West Ham will cause the Magpies too much of a threat away from home. Twelve Premier League clean sheets now, without conceding a goal in their last six, 8/5 (6/4 with bet365) looks a price worth getting onside.
Of West Ham's 12 losses in 20 Premier League matches, 9 occasions they have lost to nil and there's a good chance that can become 10 on Saturday. Newcastle will be looking to keep this incredible run going, with a cup final on the horizon, European football looks a huge possibility under Eddie Howe, a game like this they must take full advantage of in front of a roaring Toon crowd.
With Bruno suspended after his midweek red card, Joelinton is likely to drop into a deeper role to bolster the midfield, with danger man Allan Saint-Maximin likely to be utilised on the left flank.
Allan Saint-Maximin is renowned for being incredibly direct, isolating his opponents in one on one situations, looking to get past them on every opportunity. This season across 17 appearances he has averaged 9.1 dribbles per 90 minutes; Coufal will have a very busy evening. The Czech Republic International has now picked up three bookings in his last six Premier League starts and priced at 4/1 facing the dangerous Frenchman looks a nice angle to be on board.
