By Ian KingWest Ham’s task for this fixture is very straightforwardTwo games left, two points to make up. West Ham United’s – to say the least – controversial 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal last Sunday left them in the bottom three, but they’re still very much in the survival game as a result of Spurs’ failure to beat Leeds United at home the following evening. Their task for this match is straightforward. Win, and Spurs have to get something from their trip to Chelsea on Tuesday night to avoid being in the bottom three for the final round of matches next Sunday. Fail to win, and Premier League survival will depend on them getting a better result than Spurs on the final weekend of the season, while an away win for Spurs in their rescheduled match at Stamford Bridge would send them down. Four points from their last two games have eased the pressure on the Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe a little, but there remains the feeling that this has been a bit of a lost season for them. They’re in 13th place with two games to play, and a top half finish is just about the best that they can hope for now. West Ham’s recent record against Newcastle isn’t greatWest Ham have only won three of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Newcastle, a run going back to 2019, but there are a couple silver linings for them ahead of this weekend’s meeting. Two of those three wins have come at St James’s Park, while they also won the meeting between the two teams at The London Stadium earlier this season fairly convincingly. Fans who don’t care about the result and are only interested in entertainment will be hoping for a little of the spirit of 1960 to leak into this match. The clubs met twice in that calendar year, with Newcastle winning 5-3 at The Boleyn Ground in February and the two teams playing out a 5-5 draw at St James’s Park the following December.Jared Bowen has a straightforward route out of a potential bit of family dramaIt’s that time of the season when big personalities matter, and few have a bigger one at West Ham than Jarrod Bowen. Not only is he their captain and top scorer this season, but he’s married to the daughter of their most famous fan. Bowen will face quite the dilemma this summer, should West Ham go down. Stay, and at 29 years of age he could be impacting his England chances. Go, and he might have some explaining to do to his in-laws. The best solution to this for him is to score or create the goals to keep them up, and the good news for him on that front is that he is plenty capable of doing that.The match is also a homecoming for Callum Wilson, who transferred to West Ham from Newcastle last summer, but he’s been largely limited to appearances from the bench this season and a place in their first XI for this fixture would be a surprise.Harvey Barnes is on the fringes of a call-up for England’s World Cup squad this summer and he was included for their March friendlies. Two goals in his last two Newcastle games indicate that his form is tacking in the right direction, and strong performances in his final two remaining games would strengthen his claim to getting the nod from Thomas Tuchel, come the end of the season.West Ham have few injury concerns ahead of this key fixtureWest Ham haven’t had that awful a time of things with injuries, compared to others. They have one injury concern ahead of this match. Adama Traore has tight quadriceps, and faces a late fitness test; a return to the performance he put into their FA Cup match against Leeds United would be most welcome, should he be available. Other than him, their only injury concern is veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who’s been out since September with a back injury. Newcastle’s injury issues are largely of the longer-term variety. Lewis Miley, Emil Krafth and Tino Livramento won’t play again this season. Fabian Schär may return for the final weekend of the season, but he’s highly unlikely to be ready for this match.The relegation scrap seems most likely to go to the wireWe’re at the point of the season at which fine margins are everything, and the late drama at The London Stadium last weekend has impacted West Ham United. Two points behind Spurs and with an inferior goal difference, they really need to win both of their final two matches to give themselves a better than average chance of staying up. Defeat coupled with a Spurs win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday would send them down. Defeat coupled with a Spurs draw would render their chances of survival mathematical only, on account of that inferior goal difference. Newcastle’s season isn’t quite over yet. But Eddie Howe does have something to play for – his job, essentially – and a top half finish, which is achievable, would lift a little bit of the pressure on both the manager and the players. They’ve improved since the return of Bruno Guimarães in the middle of April, but they’ve been wildly unpredictable all season and their motivation levels for this match are almost impossible to gauge. Newcastle’s recent win over Brighton was the first time they’d scored more than once in a Premier League game since the start of March, and with West Ham having failed to score in three of their last four matches, there’s little to suggest that this game will be a thriller. A 1-1 draw gives the Hammers a decent chance of still being in the game by the last weekend of the season.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game in the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.