West Ham dealt new double injury concern ahead of Newcastle United trip after £65m blow

Julen Lopetegui - West Ham’s manager - is reportedly at risk of losing his job having won just three of his opening 11 Premier League fixtures. The Hammers sit 14th in the table and are also out of the Carabao Cup after losing 5-1 to Liverpool.

The Spaniard needs a result, or at least a performance on Tyneside, to ease speculation. He will, however, be without a key player or two for the clash against Eddie Howe’s in-form Magpies.

The Hammers won’t have Mohammed Kudus or summer signing Niclas Fullkrug available through suspension and injury, respectively.

Kudus was shown a red card for violent conduct in last month’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, resulting in an automatic three-match ban. He was due to return for the visit to Newcastle before being handed an additional charge by the FA.

Having already missed games against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Everton, Kudus’ ban has been extended by two games, forcing him to sit out versus Newcastle and Arsenal next Saturday.

Fullkrug, meanwhile, has no return date. The striker, who joined from Borussia Dortmund for £27million, hasn’t featured since August because of an Achilles issue.

“Niclas [Füllkrug] is improving, but he’s still out and is not ready for Newcastle,” Lopetegui confirmed.

Lopetegui then revealed there are two players - who he refused to name - that will be need to be assessed over the weekend, therefore creating an air of doubt over their potential involvement on Monday.

“We have a little problem with two players, but we have to check tomorrow, and I hope they’re going to be ready for the next challenge on Monday. I hope they’re going to be better tomorrow as they are little things, so we hope we can overcome this problem.

“We’re very happy with Alphonse [Areola]. He’s working well, but let’s see what’s going to happen.”

Elsewhere, there is some confusion over whether Edson Alvarez can feature having served two separate one-match suspensions already this campaign.

Premier League rules state that if a player receives two red cards in a season then an additional game is added to their suspension. However, because one of Alvarez’s red cards came in the Carabao Cup, the expectation was he’d be eligible to face Newcastle.

The Premier League’s official website writes that is the case, however West Ham’s official website claims the player is not available.