Newcastle vs West Ham lineups: Gordon benched again as Trippier gets farewell start

Newcastle's lineup for West Ham is doing more than setting up a Premier League match. Anthony Gordon is on the bench for the third successive game, Kieran Trippier starts his final home game as a Newcastle player before leaving in the summer, and Callum Wilson returns to Newcastle in the opposition XI.

How Newcastle's team sheet points to the summer

Eddie Howe has already hinted that Gordon could be heading for the exit door, and he has now left the England international out of the starting lineup again. That will fuel the Bayern Munich rumours, but the brief only goes as far as an agreement in principle being said to exist, not a completed move. The selection call is still notable on football grounds, too. Gordon has made 26 Premier League appearances this season and scored 6 goals, so this is not a routine rotation decision.

Trippier's situation is cleaner and more immediate. This is described as his final home game as a Newcastle player, and he starts in a back four alongside Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall. With 19 Premier League appearances this season, his inclusion reads as a proper farewell start rather than a token gesture. Newcastle have also named Nick Woltemade behind Will Osula up front, which gives the XI a slightly different shape again.

West Ham bring back a familiar face

Nuno Espirito Santo has made just one change to the side that lost 1-0 to leaders Arsenal last weekend, and that change is Wilson. He has been recalled to start against his former club, giving West Ham a striker with 30 Premier League appearances and 6 goals this season. That is a useful selection for West Ham, not just a nostalgic one, especially with the team needing points and looking short of margin for error.

The cleanest reading is that Newcastle are treating the night as more than a normal league fixture, because the XI tells a summer story before the first whistle. Gordon's benching will be read through the Bayern talk, Trippier's start has farewell written into it, and Wilson's return gives the match a familiar edge that West Ham can use immediately if he is sharp enough.