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Newcastle United face West Ham United at the London Stadium tonight and Eddie Howe has made three changes to his side.
Anthony Gordon drops out due to suspension with Jacob Murphy coming back into the side for the Premier League match. Captain Bruno Guimaraes also returns with Lewis Miley dropping to the bench while a huge call has been made in goal with Martin Dubravka dropping back to the bench in favour of Nick Pope.
Pope has conceded seven goals in three matches for Newcastle since returning from injury last month but dropped out of the side for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion last time out. Howe suggested he would selected the best team to ‘win’ rather than make decisions based on the preference of individuals.
But Pope’s return is telling less than a week before the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off).
The Magpies have lost three of their last four league matches and were beaten 2-0 by The Hammers in the reverse fixture back in November.
Four Newcastle players are ruled out for the game with Lewis Hall, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are out with injuries while Anthony Gordon is suspended for the trip. There were doubts over the fitness of Alexander Isak and Kieran Trippier after the duo were forced off last time out against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup.
But both Isak and Trippier were spotted getting off the team coach as part of the travelling squad to the London Stadium and were named in the starting line-up. In Gordon’s absence, there was also a place on the bench for 17-year-old forward Sean Neave for the second time this season.
Neave was previously called up for the 3-2 FA Cup win at Birmingham City last month but remained an unused substitute.
NUFC XI: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Murphy, Barnes, Isak
Subs: Dubravka, Wilson, Targett, Krafth, Osula, Willock, Longstaff, Miley, Neave