Newcastle United vs West Ham United

Newcastle United and West Ham United will trade tackles at St James’ Park in their opening 2021/22 Premier League encounter.

Three straight bottom-half finishes, including last season’s 12th-place finish, coupled with a relatively quiet summer transfer window, means Newcastle are likely to face another disappointing campaign. Yet, the ‘Magpies’ will entertain their chances here, having won their previous two season-opening Premier League H2Hs and back-to-back league matches to complete last season. If they beat West Ham here, as they have in four of their last six top-flight H2Hs at this venue (D1, L1), it will be the first time since 2006/07 and 2007/08 that the Tynesiders have won successive league openers. Steve Bruce’s men have to step up their defensive game if they are to improve upon last season’s mid-table finish. Indeed, they kept the Premier League low two clean sheets throughout the season, with only relegated West Brom conceding more goals at home (33).

On the other hand, West Ham completed last season in sublime fashion, netting three goals apiece to win the final two Premier League matches and secure a sixth-place finish. Despite a strong finish, the ‘Hammers’ tend to open the season on the back foot, as witnessed by a run of five consecutive defeats in the Premier League Matchday 1 fixtures. Though it may come as some surprise, only the two Manchester sides scored 3+ goals per Premier League game on more occasions than West Ham (11) last season. Curiously, six such matches came away from home, with 12 of West Ham’s 19 Premier League trips in 2020/21 seeing both teams on the scoresheet.