The defense of Newcastle United has been somewhat vulnerable lately.
The Magpies cannot keep giving up goals the way they have the past five league games (12 goals in all).
Sadly, Newcastle might not be able to halt that trend this weekend when they play Arsenal, who will be eager to add more misery to their already painful situation.
Adrian Clarke has been previewing this game on the Handbrake Off Podcast. He believes that Arsenal will be playing a close game, but he also believes that the Gunners may have a chance if Dan Burn starts at left-back because the former Brighton player has been a liability for Newcastle lately.
Dan Burn hasn’t been worth it.
Clarke discussed the £13 million man.
“It will be a tight game, we will have to work hard to score goals. Trippier will move to the left against Saka, which will be tougher for him. I think it will be hard to score,” Clarke said. “Dan Burn is a liability at the moment, but I think he might get dropped.”
Although it’s difficult to label Burn as a liability at this point, Clarke is correct—the defender hasn’t performed well enough lately.
Recently, he has really failed to maintain pace in behind, and he has begun to resemble a center-back who has been playing out of position.
Burn was a great player for Newcastle for a long time, but lately his play has declined dramatically. Given the difficulty of Saturday’s matchup against Bukayo Saka, it could be time to bench Burn.
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