Newcastle v Liverpool: New Challenges Ahead
St James’ Park opens its doors on the 2026-27 Premier League season with two clubs walking out from very different summers.
On one side, a Newcastle United team trying to shake off a flat pre-season and rally behind a new head coach. On the other, a Liverpool squad trimmed, unsettled, and already stretched before a competitive ball has been kicked.
Kick-off is set for 11:30 a.m. ET on August 23, 2026.
Jaissle’s first real test
This is Matthias Jaissle’s first competitive game in charge of Newcastle, and it comes with scrutiny baked in.
Pre-season offered little comfort. The Magpies lost three of their four friendlies, including defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Everton, and never quite found rhythm at either end of the pitch. One win, one draw, three defeats from their last five warm-up games tell the story: eight scored, nine conceded, and only Valencia beaten.
The hope now is that St James’ Park does what it so often does – turn nerves into noise and lethargy into aggression.
Jaissle will have to do it without Valentino Livramento and Joelinton, both ruled out through injury. The projected XI has Lukas Hornicek in goal behind a back four of Lewis Hall, Amar Dedic, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman. Aladji Bamba, Jacob Ramsey and Harvey Barnes are expected to anchor midfield, with Anthony Elanga, Yoane Wissa and William Osula forming a front line that has pace but still needs to prove its cutting edge.
Newcastle finished 16th last season. Survival was secured, but ambition lies higher than that. This opener is the first chance to show that last year was a warning, not a new reality.
Iraola’s Liverpool arrive light
If Newcastle’s summer has been awkward, Liverpool’s has been openly fraught.
Manager Andoni Iraola has not sugar-coated his situation. He has warned publicly that his squad is too thin to compete at the level demanded, and the transfer market has not been kind. A second bid for Yankuba Minteh has been rejected by Brighton, while PSG’s valuation has thrown Ibrahim Mbaye’s move into doubt.
The departures have cut deeper. Mohamed Salah’s exit ripped out the club’s defining forward presence. Curtis Jones then ended a 16-year association with Liverpool by sealing a £30 million move to Inter Milan just days before this game. Experience, goals, and continuity have all walked out the door.
There is at least one deal edging forward. Liverpool are making progress on Bradley Barcola, with reports indicating talks are moving in the right direction. Whether that signing is completed before kick-off remains unclear, and Iraola will travel to Tyneside with a group leaner than he would like.
The injury list does not help. Hugo Ekitike, Stefan Bajcetic, Conor Bradley, Joseph Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Vitezslav Jaros are all unavailable.
Even so, there is quality in the projected XI. Alisson Becker starts in goal, with a back four of Jeremy Jacquet, Jeremie Frimpong, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez. Dominik Szoboszlai, Rio Ngumoha and Ryan Gravenberch are set to control midfield, with Florian Wirtz operating behind a front two of Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak.
Isak’s return and a familiar edge
Isak’s presence gives this fixture a sharp twist. The striker returns to St James’ Park not as the home crowd’s hope, but as Liverpool’s spearhead. Every touch will carry a reaction; every run in behind will feel personal.
Wirtz and Frimpong add a different dimension to Iraola’s side – technical quality, speed, and an attacking threat that can punish any looseness from Newcastle’s reshaped back line. For all the talk of depth, Liverpool’s starting XI still carries the look of a team that can hurt opponents quickly.
Liverpool’s own pre-season has been mixed. Two wins, one draw and two defeats from their last five games, with seven goals scored and seven conceded. A 2-0 victory over Como was a positive final note, but a 4-2 loss to Leeds United and a 3-2 defeat to Monaco exposed defensive lapses that Newcastle will be desperate to exploit.
Recent history and old scars
This fixture has produced drama and goals in recent years.
The last meeting came on January 31, 2026, when Liverpool swept Newcastle aside 4-1 at Anfield. Before that, Newcastle claimed a 3-2 win at St James’ Park in August 2025, only for Liverpool to respond with a 2-0 home victory in February 2025.
Across the last five clashes in all competitions, Liverpool hold the edge. Yet Newcastle have landed punches of their own: a 2-1 win at Anfield in the Carabao Cup in March 2025 and a wild 3-3 draw at St James’ Park in December 2024 underline how volatile this fixture can be.
Both teams start this campaign with a clean slate in the table. Last season, Liverpool finished 13th, Newcastle 16th – positions that still feel jarring for clubs of their size and expectation.
How to watch in the United States
For viewers in the United States, the game is available across multiple platforms:
- USA Network will carry the English-language television broadcast.
- Telemundo holds the Spanish-language rights.
Cord-cutters have several live streaming options, including Fubo, DirecTV Stream and Sling TV, all carrying the relevant channels for the match.
Watching from abroad
Travelling or living outside your usual broadcast region? Geo-restrictions may block access to your regular streaming services.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can help. By creating a secure, encrypted connection and virtually switching your location to a country where the match is being shown, you can bypass blackout rules and watch as normal.
The basic process is straightforward:
- Sign up to a reputable VPN provider and install the app on your device.
- Open the app and connect to a server in the country where your chosen broadcaster is showing Newcastle v Liverpool.
- Clear your browser cookies or refresh your app so the new location is recognised.
- Log in to your broadcaster’s site or app and start streaming.
To get the game on a bigger screen, you can run the VPN on a smart TV, a streaming device, or cast from a phone or laptop once the VPN connection is active.
What this opener really means
Strip away the noise about transfers and injuries, and this is what remains: two clubs who underperformed last season, both under pressure to show that mid-table finishes were a blip, not a trend.
For Jaissle, it is the first chance to convince a restless St James’ Park that his ideas will stick. For Iraola, it is an early examination of a squad that looks lighter but still bristles with top-end talent.
Newcastle want to prove they are climbing again. Liverpool want to show they have not quietly slipped back into the pack.
The answers start here.
