Newcastle Injury Crisis Deepens As Eddie Howe Confirms Another Long-Term Blow

Newcastle United defender Dan Burn is set to miss weeks of action after his injury in Sunday’s 1-0 derby defeat at Sunderland.

It was a day to forget for Eddie Howe and Newcastle this weekend.

Nick Woltemade’s headed own goal handed Sunderland to victory at the Stadium of Light, with Newcastle failing to register a shot on target until well into the second half.

Magpies legend Alan Shearer slammed Newcastle for their lacklustre display.

And despite a 3-0 FA Cup win in 2024, it’s now 10 Premier League games without a win against Sunderland.

The result leaves Newcastle 12th in the table, four points behind their newly-promoted arch rivals.

And to make matters worse, defender Dan Burn became the latest casualty to join a mounting injury list.

Newcastle United Manager Eddie How Confirms Dan Burn Injury

Thirty-three-year-old defender Burn left the field early on after a gruesome collision with Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele.

Burn was later hospitalised after suffering breathing difficulties, with Eddie Howe confirming the news.

“He’s gone to hospital I believe,” said Howe.

“He was struggling to breathe at half-time. I think it’s a rib problem.”

Multiple reports indicate that Burn has suffered a fractured rib and possible punctured lung, with an expected recovery time of several weeks at the very least.

| Newcastle defender Dan Burn (33) has suffered a punctured lung and broken rib. He is facing up to 6 weeks out, reports @CraigHope_DM. ❌ pic.twitter.com/Cm3QGONfP2

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 15, 2025

If those reports are true, he could miss a big chunk of games due to Newcastle’s busy upcoming fixture schedule.

He will certainly be out of Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie against Fulham, as well as huge Premier League clashes with Chelsea and Manchester United.

Newcastle then face Burnley, Crystal Palace and Leeds after that, before an FA Cup third round tie against Bournemouth on 10 January.

With no confirmed return date given, Burn will hope to be fit by then.

But if not, he could be in danger of also missing Champions League matches against PSV and Paris Saint-Germain.

Newcastle Injury News As Defensive Crisis Deepens

More worryingly for Newcastle fans, Burn’s injury leaves Eddie Howe with only four fit senior defenders.

A back four of Lewis Hall, Fabian Schar, Malick Thiaw and Tino Livramento – which finished the game against Sunderland – is now the only combination available without calling upon academy players.

Burn is joined in the treatment room by Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Emil Krafth, none of whom are expected back in time for Wednesday’s cup tie.

Trippier picked up a hamstring problem in training, and has not featured since Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat at Brentford on 9 November.

Emil Kraft, meanwhile, suffered a knee injury on international duty with Sweden.

Discussing the pair, Eddie Howe said last week: “I think they won’t be back sort of any time soon.

In a sense of the next few games, anyway. We hope to get them back towards the Christmas period.”

Both are thought to be targeting Newcastle’s Boxing Day meeting with Manchester United as a potential return date.

On Sven Botman, however, Eddie Howe is hopeful of a quicker recovery.

The Dutch defender has been given injections to help solve a back problem that’s kept him out of recent fixtures.

Speaking ahead of last weekend’s win against Burnley, Howe said: “I think he’s [Botman] had an injection. We hope that that will bring about his return quite quickly.

“But now I think there’s a time period for his injection to work, which I think is around about a week, and then we’ll see how he is.”

It is believed that Botman will therefore be available for this weekend’s game against Chelsea.

That fixture will kick off at 12:30pm on Saturday at St. James’ Park.