We are in the third minute of stoppage time - Newcastle have corner.

The ball is eventually collected by keeper Joe Hart.

Painfulpublished at 15:44 British Summer Time 26 August 2017

15:44 BST 26 August 2017

Newcastle 1-0 West Ham

Guess what? Another injury time out.

Mikel Merino and Javier Hernandez go for an aerial ball and both land in a heap.

They're both OK.

Another shot on target.

Mikel Merino drives a low effort which Joe Hart just about deals with.

Matt Ritchie is on the deck for Newcastle - he seems OK to continue.

Kevin Kilbane
Former Huddersfield winger

Creative goal there from the two new signings.

It was lovely the way they opened up West Ham there.

Image source, Reuters

Aaron Cresswell fires over the bar with a shot from 12 yards, on the angle.

We've not been graced with efforts on target.

Bear with me.

Ayew has had some plaster-work does to the bridge of his nose.

He looks like he's been in the ring with McGrego..

Play is back under way. The Ghana midfielder is back on the pitch wearing number 60 because the number 20 shirt was soaked with blood, one assumes.

Image source, Getty Images

It's a stitch-uppublished at 25 mins

25 mins

Newcastle 0-0 West Ham

Ayew is still on the pitch getting treatment. Looks like he's had some work down on his face.

This has taken about three mins.

Image source, Reuters

Andre Ayew is now receiving treatment after he came off the worse from a challenge on Magpies midfielder Mikel Merino.

It looked like 'boot in face' as Merino fell. Purely accidental.

Newcastle break after a West Ham free-kick breaks down, but Christian Atsu only just fails to get his head to the ball with Pablo Zabaleta heading behind for a corner.

Before the corner, Javier Hernandez is shown a yellow for an off-the-ball retaliation foul on Matt Ritchie, which happened in the build-up. Ritchie had earlier fouled him.

Anyway.... from the corner Isaac Hayden fires over from 20 yards with a fierce effort.

A Newcastle corner is delivered from the left by Matt Ritchie but Ciaran Clark's twisting and turning with the ball near the six-yard area finishes with him conceding a free-kick.

That did slightly raise the pulses of the home fans.

The Hammers win another corner, but this time defender James Collins climbs on to/over Jamaal Lascelles and ref Neil Swarbrick awards the Magpies an FK.

It's a shot at least.

The ball is played in the from the right and finds Newcastle hitman Joselu, whose effort, to put it mildly, is wide.

But he was under pressure.

Moments later, Hammers keeper Joe Hart is put under pressure by Joselu, but he just about gets away with it.

A West Ham corner at the other end comes to zilch.

Christian Atsu careers into Pablo Zabaleta, but the Magpies get the free-kick!

Strange. He's OK.

It's a bright start - as in it's sunny over central Newcastle.

Both sides have got into the final third of the opposition half.

And that is that so far.

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Knopfler has stopped playing and we are under way.

Mark Lawrenson has made his prediction for the game and he's up against American actor Channing Tatum.

Newcastle haven't had a good start to their return to the Premier League but Lawro reckons they will come away with a draw. He expects West Ham to throw the kitchen sink at them though and Javier Hernandez will be a threat.

Prediction: 1-1

Read Mark's full predictions here.

If you think you can do better, try our Premier League predictor game by clicking this link.

Garth Crooks
Former Spurs striker on Final Score

Rafa Benitez is one of the best managers in the world.

If the Newcastle board are not matching the ambition of the manager, then he should walk.

Image source, Reuters

Alistair Mann
Match of the Day commentator

If there's one club who have become used to a poor start to a new season, it's Newcastle.

They've not won any of their last nine top-flight games in August and they even began last year's Championship campaign with two defeats.

Their latest loss to Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup further accentuated the negativity on Tyneside following a summer of perceived transfer inactivity.

Though West Ham have also failed to secure a point, they will arrive in much better psychological shape following their win at Cheltenham and a gutsy display at Southampton.

With so much attention on their hosts' performance, the visitors may well feel it's an opportunity for them to take advantage.

Image source, Reuters

I'm guessing somebody randomly asked him a question tenuously sprayed with 'Mayweather & McGregor' because the fight's on tonight...blah blah blah.

Bit like if the total lunar eclipse was this weekend.

"Slaven, do you think one of the teams will be totally eclipsed at St James'?...blah blah blah."

Anyway, here's Slav:

"It's a single game, it's a new game. They need points, I need points. They are looking forward to the game, they are playing at home, they lost their first couple of league games, as we did.

"But do you think it's like Mayweather against McGregor? No. It makes no difference."

I don't even know what he meant by that.