Forget Willock: NUFC machine who won 87% of his duels was Howe's real hero vs West Ham - opinion

Newcastle United extended their impressive run in the Premier League to six games unbeaten after securing a 1-1 draw away at Champions League-chasing West Ham United.

The Magpies went behind just after half an hour as Craig Dawson headed Aaron Cresswell’s free-kick past Martin Dubravka in goal, the defender’s second goal in as many games.

However, the visitors found an equaliser before half-time as Joe Willock netted for the first time this season in added time.

The 22-year-old impressed, however, January signing Dan Burn was particularly influential at the back, suggesting that the defender has taken no time at all to settle into Eddie Howe’s side.

Having swapped the south-coast for his native northeast, Burn joined Newcastle from Brighton last month for a fee believed to be around £13m.

The Blyth-born defender made his Newcastle debut last weekend, securing a clean sheet as his new side beat Aston Villa 1-0 and was impressive again at the London Stadium.

According to SofaScore, the 29-year-old made seven clearances as well as two tackles, two blocks and an interception to keep the Hammers at bay.

The Englishman also won 87% of his duels winning two out of two ground duels and five out of six aerial duels, an unsurprising feat given Burn’s colossal stature of 2.01m.

Making 78 touches, the centre-back lost possession just 12 times and averaged an 80% passing accuracy, although his long balls weren’t to scratch with just one out of an attempted seven finding its intended target.

With another solid shift at the back, Newcastle may have saved themselves a serious amount of money by signing Burn having attempted to bring the likes of Diego Carlos, Sven Botman and Benoit Badiashile to St. James’ Park in January.

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