Newcastle United were second best against Arsenal, but one Toon player certainly caught Micah Richards’ eye.

While Newcastle United were on the end of some poor decisions against Arsenal, there cannot be too many complaints about the result. Mikel Arteta’s side were the better team, even if they did secure victory in heartbreaking fashion.

But there were some positives for Newcastle to take. Sven Botman performed very well, and so did Malick Thiaw.

They played at centre-back together, forcing Dan Burn to operate at left-back. That is not something he has done for a while, with centre-back being Burn’s best position.

But he did a job at left-back, and thoroughly impressed Micah Richards with his performance.

Dan Burn surprises Micah Richards with left-back display

Richards spoke about Newcastle’s loss to Arsenal on the latest episode of the Rest Is Football podcast.

The former Manchester City defender was surprised at how well Burn played, praising the £13million man for his performance up against Bukayo Saka.

“I thought Dan Burn did very well against Saka,” he said.

“Newcastle have gone to a four at the back, would it be a five, we were speculating before the game.

“I thought at times against Saka he would do you one on one, but his [Burn’s] recovery pace at times because he’s not the quickest and his position he would get into at times when Saka would go by him.

“When someone’s got the beating of you in a one-on-one situation, it’s how you react to that situation, and I thought Dan Burn did that ever so well. Someone who’s so tall going up against someone so small and can change direction so quickly, I thought Dan Burn dealt with that really well.”

Micah Richards impressed with Malick Thiaw vs Arsenal

Burn was not the only Newcastle United player who impressed Richards with his performance.

There was also praise for Malick Thiaw, who continued his impressive run in the Magpies’ starting XI since joining the club from AC Milan.

“I thought Thiaw was excellent, made some really good tackles,” Richards said.

Thiaw’s strong form comes at a time when Fabian Schar is available once again after missing three games due to concussion.

On current form, Thiaw does not deserve to be dropped. While Howe will rotate his side in an effort to keep his Newcastle United squad fresh, it is Thiaw who should be in the Magpies’ strongest starting XI moving forwards.