The good news for Steve McClaren and Slaven Bilic is that the weather forecast suggests it will be dry so there should be no need for agonising over head coverings. The former England coach could do with building on Tuesday’s spirited draw against Manchester United by beating his one time Croatia counterpart but West Ham have their sights on Europe – and Dimitri Payet back in midfield. With Jonjo Shelvey likely to make his Newcastle debut in the same department an interesting subplot looms. Louise Taylor
Kick-off Saturday 3pm
Venue St James’ Park
Last season Newcastle 2 West Ham 0
Referee N Swarbrick
This season G7, Y33, R2, 5.0 cards per game
Odds H 6-4 A 19-10 D 9-4
Newcastle United
Subs from Darlow, Lascelles, Taylor, Sterry, Colback, Mbabau, Thauvin, Gouffran, Aarons, Riviere, Toney
Doubtful None
Injured De Jong (eye, unknown), Obertan (thigh, April), Cissé (groin, two months)
Suspended None
Form WDLLLD
Discipline Y39 R3
Leading scorer Wijnaldum 8
West Ham United
Subs from Randolph, Spiegel, Reid, Hendrie, Jenkinson, Oxford, Cullen, Song, Kouyaté, Zárate, Moses, Lee
Doubtful Kouyaté (groin)
Injured Carroll (hamstring, unknown) O’Brien (hamstring, unknown), Sakho (thigh, 8 Feb)
Suspended None
Form DDDWWW
Discipline Y28 R4
Leading scorer Payet 6
