Lucas Paquetá insists he will be pulling no punches when he goes up against close friend Bruno Guimarães during West Ham United’s hotly-anticipated clash with Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Hammers welcome the Magpies to London Stadium looking to register a first win under boss Nuno Espírito Santo, and first at home in 2025/26, having enjoyed a productive week of training following last Friday’s narrow 2-1 defeat at Leeds United.
Our visitors were in action as recently as Wednesday night, when they continued their EFL Cup title defence with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park, and they will surely be hoping to follow up that result with a first league win on the road this term, after three draws and a defeat so far.
West Ham and Newcastle each triumphed once in the teams’ two meetings last season and Paquetá is expecting another hard-fought encounter, including in midfield, where he is set to come up against his former Lyon and current Brazil teammate Guimarães, who he has lined up alongside on over 65 occasions.
“Bruno and I are like brothers,” said our No10, who made his 100th Premier League appearance against Brentford on Monday 20 October. “He’s one of my best friends, and we share a lot of our lives with each other.
“Our families are very close and our children are together whenever they can be. He’s someone I admire a lot, and he helped me a lot during my difficult period recently.
“Our friendship is really special, but on Sunday I will be focused on helping my team, because we need to get out of the situation we’re currently in by working hard, dedicating ourselves and getting the basics right.
“We need to stay positive and help each other on the pitch and in training, as we’re doing, because I’m sure that once the wins start coming, we’ll gain the confidence required to start climbing the table.”
After making a blistering individual start to the campaign, with four goals in his first five games for Club and country, Paquetá is confident he is once again finding his strongest form under Head Coach Nuno.
With 130 appearances for the Hammers under his belt, as well as 59 caps for his country, the 28-year-old also recognises his role as a leader in the dressing room, and is relishing the responsibility of helping drive a turn in fortunes for his team.
He added: “I think it was one of the best starts to a season in my career, in terms of numbers. I’m trying to get back to that level of consistency in front of goal, but I know I help the team in other ways too, so I’m working hard to improve in all areas.
“I think it’s been very valuable for me [to have a Portuguese-speaking Head Coach]. I can convey my views and feelings to him easily, and it’s been good working with him. We know the start of the season has been difficult, but I’m confident things will improve.
“I know my role in that too, as one of the most experienced players alongside the likes of Jarrod [Bowen] and Tomáš [Souček]. I like to lead more through my actions, and by being willing to listen and help, and I’ll continue doing my best to help the team start turning things around.”
To hear more from Paquetá, in an exclusive interview in which he discusses how his faith, the fans and the Club helped him and his family through personal challenges off the pitch, and how he hopes to channel that resilience into a change in fortunes on it, purchase a copy of Sunday's Official Programme HERE.
