West Ham will have key player back and available for Newcastle, despite bizarre suspension claim

Lopetegui faces the sack if the Hammers lose heavily to Newcastle and Arsenal before the end of the month.

The trip up to St James’ Park on Monday night will be an incredibly tough one for West Ham, especially with our arch nemesis Calum Wilson set to return to action for the Toon.

So far this season, the team have had absolutely no direction whatsoever, with a distinct lack of a footballing identity undermining our hopes of success.

All is not well at the London Stadium right now, but a good result against Newcastle would dramatically flip the narrative.

Having Mohammed Kudus unavailable will be a big blow for Lopetegui, and Niclas Fullkrug is still out injured.

However, another key player will be ready to return to the squad.

West Ham will have Edson Alvarez back for Newcastle

Edson Alvarez will be available for selection for our next Premier League game.

He was forced to sit out our clash with Everton 10 days ago due to suspension.

And weirdly, there are rumours going around that he will still be suspended for our trip to St James’ Park.

Bizarrely, website Premier Injuries have claimed that the 27-year-old is suspended for our clash with Newcastle on Monday night, and will not be available to return until game against Arsenal five days later.

However, that isn’t the case – the tenacious tackling midfielder will indeed be available for selection for our match against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Monday.

Alvarez received two bookings against Nottingham Forest, and was suspended for one-game as a result.

Some people have been suggesting that because it was the Mexican’s second red card of the season, he will be forced to sit out two games.

Whilst he has been handed two red cards, one of them was in the Carabao Cup away at Liverpool in September.

So that doesn’t count towards the Premier League’s totting up rules.

The question is, will he return to the starting XI after displaying such flagrant levels of unprofessionalism?

Alvarez could return for West Ham against Newcastle

Now, it must be said, I’m not sure if having Edson Alvarez back is actually good news for West Ham, as strange as that might sound.

Yes, he has been crucial for us over the past year or so, especially when playing out from the back.

However, The Mexico international has become somewhat of a liability at the same.

It’s all well and good getting stuck in and playing with supposed ‘passion’, but his distinct lack of professionalism has cost us dearly.

Both red cards he received recently came about from truly ridiculous decision making.

Hs reckless nature is something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, and it is something that Lopetegui has already spoken to him about.

Edson Alvarez has let West Ham down time and time again with his lack of discipline and poor decision making in key moments.

The worrying thing is that without him in the team, the Hammers look a lot worse.

So it will be interesting to see what lineup Lopetegui goes with on Monday night up at St James’ Park.

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