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We've been here before in the brief Steve McClaren era. A battling performance to earn a creditable draw against a Sky6 opponent. Now that more than half of the Premier League season has passed and Newcastle find themselves in 19th position in the league table as the makems have overtaken them thanks to their victory over Swansea City, the need to follow up "encouraging" performances with "point-earning performances" is high. West Ham have had a season of opposite fortune as they enter the match in 5th place.
There will be an amount of intrigue regarding who will get the nod for the Toon with newly purchased Henri Saivet and Jonjo Shelvey likely in the mix to some degree or another. Cheik Tiote, who would have been coming off of his best performance in a black and white shirt for some time, is traveling to complete a transfer to Chinese side Shanghai Shenua and will miss out. With a short amount of time having passed, the question will be whether McClaren will go with a familiar pairing of Jack Colback and Vurnon Anita or whether one of the new guys will step in. Given the recent preference for Cheik Tiote, it seems most likely that the nod will go to Henri Saivet who was informed in the recruitment process that McClaren wanted him in that holding midfield role. I wouldn't be surprised to see both play, but Shelvey may be more of a second half (but longer than 7 minutes) sub this time around.
LINEUPS
(Well... Guess this shows what I know)
TEAM NEWS: Here is how Newcastle United will line up against West Ham United at St. James' Park (3pm GMT). #NUFC pic.twitter.com/Qn6A2goEw0
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 16, 2016
WEST HAM UNITED: Adrian, Tomkins, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Obiang, Noble (c), Kouyate, Antonio, Payet, Valencia #WHUFC #NEWWHU
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) January 16, 2016
MATCH INFORMATION
Date & Time: January 16, 2016 1500 GMT (0700 PST, 1000 EST)
Venue: St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
Players to watch: For real this time, whichever CM pairing McClaren sends out
TV Information: none
Stream Information: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA), TSN 4 (Canada), Other countries and links ccan be found here.