West Ham head to St James’ Park tonight with monumental pressure on Julen Lopetegui to produce a positive performance.

Its been a torrid season thus far in east London, with the club facing a relegation battle rather than a battle to return to European competition, which has put the future of the Head Coach very much in doubt.

The pressure is very much on and if a poor display and result is realised against the Magpies later, then it could very much spell the end for the Spaniard.

There has been confusion surrounding the availability of Edson Alvarez tonight, with the initial belief that he was back from suspension, however that is not the case as he has an additional match to miss, so he is again out and will be back available for our game against Arsenal at the London Stadium on Saturday.

There are reports that a couple of key players will require fitness tests ahead of the game. Niclas Fullkrug remains out although there is hope he’ll be available soon.

Dan Burn, Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman are all out for the hosts, while there are still doubts over Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier.

It’s a hugely important fixture for West Ham but also Julen Lopetegui in particular, who is now at the make or break time for proving he can turn around this current situation that our Hammers find ourselves in.

Tonight’s match kicks off at 8pm and is being shown live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports HDR.