Key events
Today's match officials
Referee: Rob Jones.
Assistants: Ian Hussin and Wade Smith.
Fourth referee: Darren Bond.
VAR: David Coote.
VAR Assistant: Smart Eddie.
Those teams: Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier has not recovered from an injury and is not in the matchday squad, meaning Tino Livramento starts. Jamaal Lascelles will start in place of Sven Botman. Harvey Barnes returns from a two-match absence and is on the home bench.
Bruno Guimaraes is a starter for Newcastle, but he continues to walk a disciplinary tightrope: the Brazilian midfielder is one yellow card away from being banned for two games. He has four more games left before the penalty threshold increases to 15 yellow cards.
With Edson Alvarez suspended, his place is taken by James Ward-Prowse, meaning Kalvin Phillips has to settle for a place among West Ham's reserves. Next to him will be Maxwel Cornet, who returns after six games out.
Newcastle-West Ham lineups
Newcastle: Dubravka, Livramento, Lascelles, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Willock, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Substitutes: Dummett, Ritchie, Barnes, Krafth, Karius, Hall, Almirón, Anderson, White.
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio.
Substitutes: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Phillips, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Earthy, Mubama.
Early team news
West Ham will be without Edson Alvarez for today's match as their Mexican midfielder will be forced to miss two games at the Naughty Step after picking up his tenth yellow card of the season. Mohammed Kudus is reported to have fully recovered from a knee injury, while West Ham's medical staff are monitoring the fitness of Lucas Paquetá and Vladimir Coufal.
Newcastle have lost central defender Sven Botman for around nine months due to a torn ACL, with the Dutchman exacerbating a pre-existing injury he suffered earlier this season by playing against the advice of club doctors.
Midfielder Lewis Miley has also been added to Newcastle's injury list after suffering a back injury while on England Under-20 duty and is expected to be out for six weeks. Callum Wilson, Nick Pope and Joelinton also remain out. Better news for Mags fans is that Harvey Barnes, Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento could return today.
This week it emerged that Sandro Tonali, who is currently serving a 10-month global ban imposed by the Italian Football Federation for breaching betting rules, is now facing new charges from the Football Association that could extend his suspension.
Eddie Howe has asked the FA not to throw the book at his midfielder, pointing out that Tonali has a playing problem that he is addressing and has already been sufficiently punished. While it's obviously in Howe's best interest to get the Italian back as soon as possible, it's hard to disagree with him on this one.
Premier League: Newcastle-West Ham
After a two-week break, the first division is back and resumes with an intriguing clash between Newcastle and West Ham at St James' Park.
In 10th place with just 10 games remaining, Newcastle can still qualify for the Europa Conference League and will move to within one point of seventh-placed West Ham with a win today. A victory for West Ham would allow them to overtake Manchester United and move into sixth place, after having played two more games.
In the corresponding match played at the London Stadium in October, the teams faced each other a 2-2 draw, with West Ham rescuing a point thanks to a fantastic late goal from Mohammed Kudus. Kick-off in Newcastle is at 12:30pm (GMT), but stay tuned for team news and preparations in the meantime.
