Mark Lawrenson makes shock Newcastle United prediction ahead of West Ham clash

In his weekly predictions piece for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson covered the Magpies' clash against the Hammers, and tipped Steve Bruce's side to pick up a shock 2-0 win against the Champions League-chasing team.

Justifying his prediction, the former Liverpool defender said: “Last weekend's win at Burnley was massive for Newcastle, who now have a bit of breathing space above the bottom three.

“I'm going for a bit of an upset here, partly because I think Newcastle usually pick up points in bursts and also because they also have Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson to come into their starting XI after the impact they made off the bench against the Clarets.”

He continued: “It has the makings of a decent game, anyhow. West Ham have developed a bit of a habit recently of going 3-0 up and being pegged back, but they held on to beat Leicester last week and will hang on to fourth place for a while longer.

“I’m going for the Hammers to lose this time but I am sure they won't mind - I also thought they would be beaten by the Foxes and, before then Wolves, and I was wrong on both occasions.”

Meanwhile, Lawro's opponent for the week, Soccer AM star Tubes, went for a 2-1 Newcastle win, and revealed: “I'm going to put it out there - I think Newcastle are going to nick a result here off the back of beating Burnley last week.”