Bruno Guimaraes believes Dan Burn can play a big role in Newcastle United’s preparations for Sunday’s huge derby against Sunderland.
For the first time in years, the Premier League will have a Tyne-Wear derby on show.
Newcastle United head to the Stadium of Light, looking to dent Sunderland’s fine start to the season.
A win could be huge for Eddie Howe’s side. Newcastle haven’t fully convinced all season but going to Wearside and picking up three points would be a statement of intent.
You can pick one player to score the winner against Sunderland on Sunday, who are you going for?
It would be great for Wissa to get his first Toon goal, but imagine the scenes if Bruno scores!😍
Clearly, they will need to be at their very best from both a technical and tactical point of view.
Not only that, they must deal with all the intensity any Sunderland vs Newcastle United fixture brings.
That’s where Guimaraes and Burn come in.
Dan Burn set to speak to Newcastle United players about Sunderland game
Guimaraes, of course, is the team captain and a fine one at that.
Indeed, Guimaraes produced an iconic team talk at half-time in the Carabao Cup final and something similar will no doubt be needed on Sunday.
Still, purely by virtue of the fact that Guimaraes isn’t from the area, Burn’s knowledge of the rivalry will be called upon.
Name the four missing players from our starting lineup when we last played Sunderland in the Premier League!
One is still at the club!
The defender explained the importance of the fixture ahead of the last game between the two in January 2024 and Guimaraes confirms he will do so again.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Guimaraes said: “He has to, he has to.
“He did this when I faced them two years ago and now we’ve got new players, so he has to do another speech.
“It’s important for the fans, it’s very important for them, so it’s important for us as well. It’s very good for us to have Dan Burn here to explain exactly how it works for people who are not from Newcastle.”
How Newcastle United fan Dan Burn actually feels about Sunderland
Back in 2024 and after Newcastle’s last win over Sunderland in an FA Cup clash in January 2024, Burn made a rather surprising admission.
Speaking to iNews at the time, Burn revealed that he actually wanted Sunderland to get promoted.
“I will probably get pelters for saying it but I’d like them to come up,” he said.
“It would be nice because those are the games, as a kid, I wanted to see. It would be great for them to come up and we could do it more often. It’s been such a long time and it was a special day.”
They would do so around 18 months later and, to their credit, the Black Cats haven’t looked back since.
There was some logic to what Burn was saying. This particular derby is one of the best in British football and having it back in the Premier League is a major boost.
Still, it was easy to say that when they were in the Championship. Now derby day is almost upon us, it’s natural to hope it wasn’t happening at all, such are the nerves.
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