Newcastle vs West Ham Betting Tips and Stats

I think Bruno Guimaraes offers value to hit the target at least once against West Ham on Sunday. The Newcastle midfielder was hitting the target with frequency before his spell on the sidelines, and he has picked up where he left off since returning from injury. In fact, during last week’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, Guimaraes worked the opposition goalkeeper on no fewer than 3 occasions, while he also hit the target once when coming off the bench in his comeback match against Bournemouth last month. It should also be noted that in the 12 Premier League matches leading up to his injury, Guimaraes registered a shot on target in a sizeable 10 of them.

Given West Ham’s need for victory, they’ll likely have to force the issue at some point on Sunday evening, which should give Guimaraes plenty of opportunities to get shots away and test the goalkeeper. Moreover, only already-relegated Burnley are conceding more shots on average per game than the Hammers in the Premier League this season.

Another player I’m keen to back in the shots on target market on Sunday is Crysencio Summerville. The West Ham forward is always willing to pull the trigger when the chance presents itself, underlined by the fact he is averaging 2.04 shots per game in the Premier League this season.

While Summerville’s shots on target average currently sits at 0.59 per 90, that figure does not tell the full story. In fact, the Dutchman has delivered at least 1 on-target effort in 9 of his last 14 Premier League appearances. It is also worth noting that Summerville hit the target against Newcastle in this season’s reverse fixture.

The fact that only Burnley and West Ham are conceding more shots on target per home game on average than Newcastle in the Premier League this season only strengthens the case for siding with this selection. What’s more, the Magpies have been leaking goals at an alarming rate this season, conceding 2 or more in 10 of their 18 Premier League home matches so far, which only adds to the appeal of backing Summerville to hit the target at St James’ Park on Sunday.

I think that William Osula looks well worthy of support to be fouled at least twice on Sunday afternoon. The Newcastle forward has enjoyed a consistent run in the starting XI over the past month or so, and one noticeable takeaway of that has been the number of fouls he has been drawing.

In fact, across Newcastle’s last 5 Premier League matches, Osula has won his side a combined total of 10 free-kicks, including no fewer than 3 away at Nottingham Forest last weekend. Even in the game prior to that 5-game stretch, against Sunderland at St James’ Park, Osula came off the bench and was brought down on 2 separate occasions despite featuring for just 14 minutes, further highlighting his knack for drawing fouls.

Osula could find himself in direct battle with Konstantinos Mavropanos on Sunday, who committed 2 fouls during West Ham’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend.