‘I have to say this’… Gary Lineker now thinks £13m Newcastle United player is being targeted

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Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe kept his faith in Dan Burn at the weekend, and some will say it nearly cost the Magpies again.

Dan Burn received a lot of criticism for his performance against Luton Town the week earlier, with the majority of Toon fans calling for Eddie Howe to start Tino Livramento ahead of him against Nottingham Forest.

That did not happen, with Howe sticking with Burn. The £13million man started again, and he was caught out for Forest’s equaliser.

A clever ball in behind the Geordie defender allowed Anthony Elanga to race through on goal, and he converted after missing a similar chance earlier in the game.

It was another instance of teams exploiting the space in behind Burn, and that is something that Gary Lineker believes Premier League sides are going to keep taking advantage of.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer debate latest Dan Burn display

Lineker and Alan Shearer have been discussing Dan Burn’s latest performance on the most recent episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.

“I have to say this and I think teams are picking out that left-hand side of Newcastle’s defence,” Lineker said.

“If they’ve got someone quick like Elanga against Dan Burn, which caused issues once again as it did in the previous game.”

Shearer replied: “Eddie will look at it. I think he’s a really loyal guy, for what Dan Burn has done for him and for Newcastle. He’s been a magnificent signing and that is his go-to back four with Trippier, Schar, Botman and Burn. That was key to how tight and mean they were last season. He’s stuck with him for that. There was a lot of noise to leave Burn out and bring in Livramento at left-back, because Dan has been punished in the last few weeks. But Eddie has stuck with him and, although he got done again, they got the right result so I think it was the right decision in the end.”

Dan Burn was a necessary evil for Newcastle against Nottingham Forest

Forest did get in behind Burn, but he did not totally play as a traditional left-back on Saturday. He was a bit more central, which coincided with Bruno Guimaraes playing higher up the pitch.

That resulted in Kieran Trippier shifting inside to support Lewis Miley and Sean Longstaff, which in turn saw Newcastle almost operate with three centre-backs at times.

That is probably why Howe stuck with Burn, as that is not a role that Tino Livramento would have been able to fulfil.

While Forest did exploit Burn’s lack of pace, it was perhaps a necessary evil to have him in the side. And, as Shearer says, it ended in Newcastle picking up a vital three points.