Andrew Musgrove says Newcastle star who's been 'excellent' under Howe 'had a shocker' on Sunday

Journalist Andrew Musgrove claimed that Newcastle United defender Dan Burn ‘had a shocker’ in Sunday’s heavy defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs hammered Newcastle 5-1 in north  London, with Fabian Schar’s 39th-minute opener a distant memory by the time the final whistle sounded.

It was the first time the Magpies had shipped five goals since Eddie Howe took over in November and the third time they had lost by a four-goal margin (along with their 4-0 defeats against Leicester City and Manchester City).

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In a marker of just how poor their defensive performance was, they gave up 3.61 expected goals against, their second-highest figure of the season.

Burn, a January signing from Brighton, made his eighth start in succession at the heart of the Newcastle back four, but it was not one that he will care to remember.

Musgrove tweeted in the final knockings of the game that the 6 foot 8 colossus had endured something of a nightmare afternoon at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, although the journalist stressed that it was hard to identify anyone for Newcastle who came away smelling of roses.

His tweet read: “Dan Burn has had a shocker today. That said, hard to pick anyone who has had a good day.”

The statistics confirm that it was a real struggle for Burn against Tottenham on Sunday.

His SofaScore rating of 5.9/10 was the second-lowest among Newcastle’s outfielders; only midfielder Joelinton (5.8) fared worse. The defender also failed to win any of the three ground duels that he contested and lost possession eight times over the course of the match.

It’s worth stressing, however, that the 29-year-old has largely been very good since he arrived on Tyneside.

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