Eddie Howe reveals why he dropped Bruno Guimaraes for Newcastle against Bournemouth
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(Credit: Imago)
Ciaran Morrison
Sun 21 September 2025 14:22, UK
Eddie Howe has come in for questioning for benching captain Bruno Guimaraes for the Toon’s trip to Bournemouth.
Howe elected to make seven changes to the side beaten by Barcelona to freshen up his team with just two days in between hosting the Spanish giants and making the trip to Bournemouth.
Newcastle’s win against Wolves last time out gave them their first Premier League win of the season, but Barcelona overcame the Toon 2-0 in the Champions League in mid-week.
Marcus Rashford hit a double for Barcelona at St James’ Park, as Hansi Flick’s men proved too strong for Howe’s side.
Credit: Imago
Speaking to Sky Sports [21 September], Howe explained his decision to drop Guimaraes to the bench at Bournemouth.
“It was a tough call because he has been an ever-present and he has been so important for us,” Howe said.
“He’s really done the air miles in terms of he’s played for Brazil, played at altitude, came back very tired, and he did brilliantly in the Wolves game.
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“Barcelona was a big high, but such a quick turnaround here, we thought for Bruno’s sake, it’s a long season, so we need to look after him.”
One of Howe’s other changes was to bring Nick Woltemade back into the starting XI up-front after Howe chose to not start him against Barcelona.
With two matches in quick succession, Howe would have needed to have balanced his squad to ensure they could try and come away with wins from both games.
Being able to drop Guimaraes shows Howe’s depth in the midfield department, with Joelinton also left on the bench at Bournemouth.
Bruno GuimaraesStatsAppearances159Goals23Assists24Bruno Guimaraes’ Newcastle stats in all competitions.
This is likely to continue for Howe this season to balance Champions League and Premier League football, with Anthony Elanga, who impressed against Barcelona also not making the XI.