Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes was not his usual self in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal on Tuesday and journalist Craig Hope has suggested he looks like he needs a rest.

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Eddie Howe's men were able to earn themselves a valuable point on the road to the Premier League leaders on Tuesday as they held out the league's second-highest goalscorers to their first home blank this season.

The point kept the Magpies sitting pretty up in third spot of the table but made it just two points from a possible six in their last two games following their draw at home to Leeds United.

However, Hope did notice during the game at the Emirates Stadium that their star man, Guimaraes, did not exactly appear to be playing to his full potential with the Daily Mail journalist suggesting he could possibly benefit from a rest when speaking on his YouTube channel:

"I thought Bruno in particular at times is just missing that spark that we'd seen earlier in the season and towards the back end of last year.

"And that's on the back of being away with, with Brazil, really, for the best part of four weeks, he hasn't really had a break, he came pretty much straight back in it at Newcastle.

"He looks like maybe someone who could do with a little bit of a rest. He's just lost that little bit of zip about him, hasn't he, at the moment."

  Bruno burnout?

It has been an exceptional start to the season for the Toon and that has drawn parallel to the impressive form of the Brazilian maestro who has not even been playing Premier League football for a year yet.

Guimaraes has been a regular feature in Howe's side with 15 appearances in the Premier League to his name and all of them coming from the starting XI (via Transfermarkt).

And to add to that, the 25-year-old has had too deal with a hamstring issue back in the early stages of the campaign which saw him miss three of Newcastle's league games.

On average this season, Guimaraes has averaged around 66 touches of the ball per 90, whereas, against the north London side he only managed 47 touches.

It was a game which the home side dominated with 67% possession, but this stat is perhaps evidence of the Brazilian's lack of influence on the game which he committed three fouls and lost the ball eight times (via SofaScore).

Although Guimaraes did not feature that much for Brazil - just 67 minutes in total - it is also worth remembering the midfielder has not long returned from the World Cup following his country's disappointing exit.

However, there is no break planned for Newcastle over the coming weeks with games aplenty ahead of Howe's side who face a further three games before the end of next week.

But this weekend's FA Cup clash against Sheffield Wednesday could offer Howe the opportunity to rest some of his stars with a trip to the League One side potentially a chance for some of the fringe players to show their worth.