Having both come up trumps in their midweek European contests - albeit with the visitors triumphing in far more remarkable circumstances - West Ham United and Newcastle United turn their attention back to the Premier League on Sunday with a clash at the London Stadium.
David Moyes's men made it two wins from two in the Europa League with a 2-1 success over Freiburg, while Newcastle ripped French champions Paris Saint-Germain to shreds in a 4-1 Champions League drubbing.
Match preview
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Boasting three successive wins from three separate competitions over the past couple of weeks, West Ham's early-season purple patch remains alive and well, and the Europa Conference League champions flaunted their aerial dominance to put Freiburg to the sword on Thursday.
Either side of a thunderous close-range equaliser from Roland Sallai, Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd nodded home to propel West Ham to a slender victory at the Europa-Park Stadion, keeping Moyes's men perfect in continental competition following their opening success over Backa Topola.
Prior to a successful German sojourn, West Ham edged out Lincoln City in the EFL Cup before prolonging Sheffield United's misfortune with a 2-0 Premier League victory last weekend, as Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek launched the Irons to their fourth win from seven top-flight games this term.
Last season's basement battle is now a distant memory for the London Stadium faithful, whose side occupy seventh place in the table with seven matches played, and the hosts are out to extend their Premier League scoring streak to 10 games on Sunday.
Moyes's troops have also made the net bulge in all of their Premier League home games in 2023 so far, but they had gone nine games without a top-flight clean sheet before keeping a hapless Sheffield United side at bay last weekend, and the visit of a merciless Newcastle team would strike fear into the hearts of any defence following their St James' Park pummelling of PSG.
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Flying to the North East intending to spoil Newcastle's Champions League homecoming, Kylian Mbappe and co were instead subjected to their heaviest Champions League group-stage defeat of the Qatar Sports Investment era, as Eddie Howe oversaw a European masterclass against Barcelona treble-winner Luis Enrique.
Either side of goals from local lads Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almiron and Fabian Schar also breached Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal on a magical evening for the St James' Park crowd, whose spirits were hardly dampened whatsoever when Lucas Hernandez notched a consolation goal for the Parisiens.
Revelling in their biggest-ever victory in the Champions League group stages, as well as their 8-0 obliteration of Sheffield United, EFL Cup success over Manchester City and 2-0 triumph over Burnley, Newcastle's early-season struggles are now a thing of the past as Howe seeks to mastermind a fifth straight win in all competitions.
An eighth-placed standing in the table is still far from where the Magpies aspire to be, and Howe's team had gone 11 away games in the top flight without a clean sheet before shutting out Sheffield United, but only Brighton & Hove Albion (19) have netted more Premier League goals than Newcastle (18) so far this term.
A whopping 21 goals have been scored across the last five editions of this fixture, five of which went to Newcastle in a 5-1 London Stadium thrashing back in April, and not since March 2019 have West Ham managed to defeat their Northern counterparts in front of their own supporters.
Team News
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West Ham managed to sink Freiburg without the services of leading marksman Michail Antonio, who was left behind due to a tight groin, and Moyes could not confirm whether the Jamaica international would be ready for the visit of Newcastle this weekend.
Antonio is not the only West Ham player nursing an adductor strain, as Ben Johnson is expected to sit this one out for the same reason, while Aaron Cresswell's thigh issue should keep him sidelined until after the international break.
With Antonio absent in midweek, Moyes went without a recognised striker and instead lined up with Mohammed Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta and Pablo Fornals in the final third, but the returning Soucek and Danny Ings will certainly threaten the latter's place this weekend.
Newcastle also had to make do without one of their seasoned strikers in midweek - not that it had much bearing on the result - and Callum Wilson will need a quick once-over in the coming hours as he bids to return from a thigh problem.
Joelinton is in the same boat, but Sven Botman (knee), Joe Willock (calf) and Harvey Barnes (ankle) will not be making their returns before the international break, while Anthony Gordon has accumulated five Premier League yellow cards and must now serve a suspension.
Gordon's ban was described as a "killer" by Howe, but the Newcastle boss has a competent replacement in Jacob Murphy, while Jamaal Lascelles will continue to deputise for Botman after wearing the captain's armband in his side's historic crushing of PSG.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Burn; Guimaraes, Tonali, Longstaff; Murphy, Isak, Almiron
We say: West Ham United 1-3 Newcastle United
Even with concerns lingering over Antonio's availability, West Ham's golden touch in front of goal at the London Stadium should not be snapped on Sunday, but any Hammers joy should be short-lived.
Howe's men will have had an extra day to recover from their European exertions, while West Ham's long flight home from Germany will also hamper their preparations for the visit of the Magpies, who should stretch their winning sequence to five games in the English capital.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
