Preview: Newcastle United vs Liverpool - prediction, team news, lineups

New northern eras commence at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon, when Matthias Jaissle's Newcastle United and Andoni Iraola's Liverpool kick off their 2026-27 Premier League campaigns.

The Magpies concluded pre-season with a measly three-game winless run, while the Reds swapped chaos for control in a 2-0 stroll against Como.

Match preview

Another summer of off-field upheaval - and not the good kind - has befallen Newcastle United, who no longer employ any of Eddie Howe, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes or Anthony Gordon after a troubled 2025-26 campaign.

The Magpies' mega-million takeover in 2021 sparked fears of a new English football superpower being born, but such a fantasy has remained just a fantasy for the St James' Park faithful, who witnessed their side suffer their joint-worst finish of the decade last term.

Ranking as low as 12th in the Premier League for the first time since the 2020-21 season, the former EFL Cup winners and Champions League participants have turned to 38-year-old Jaissle, already a six-time trophy winner from his stints with Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Ahli.

Newcastle had suffered a chastening 4-1 friendly loss to Bristol City shortly before Jaissle's arrival, and the German's side subsequently edged out Valencia, fell to Everton and Bayer Leverkusen and drew with Strasbourg in their summer programme, scoring and conceding in all four contests.

The latter statistic is par for the course, as Newcastle have also netted and shipped in seven consecutive Premier League home games, meaning they could once again match their club record of scoring and conceding in eight straight matches at St James' Park in the competition.

Historical omens favour the men in black and white, though, as they have avoided defeat in each of their last four matchday one clashes, while Jaissle has won his first game in charge at each of his previous three clubs.

Iraola cannot boast the same inaugural game record as his opposite number this weekend, having only earned one win from his previous four first matches as Bournemouth, Rayo Vallecano, Mirandes and AEK Larnaca manager, albeit while avoiding defeat in all of them.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard won over the Anfield crowd even before he was sworn in as Arne Slot's successor, amid the expectation that he would return the Reds to their high-octane ways that defined the golden Jurgen Klopp era.

Iraola-ball was evident in pre-season, where Liverpool's six matches produced 20 goals - an average of over three per game - and ended with welcome back-to-back clean sheets against Como following the concession of nine strikes in their opening four matches.

Sunday's visitors have also enjoyed a 13-game unbeaten run in Premier League matchday one fixtures, although not even that solid streak matches up to Iraola's current sequence without defeat, having overseen a magnificent 18-match unbeaten Premier League run with Bournemouth en route to the Europa League.

Furthermore, the Liverpool manager has never lost to Newcastle in the top flight - masterminding three wins and three draws - and it is almost a year to the day since Slot's Reds pulled off an unforgettable 3-2 win in this exact fixture in 2025-26.

Newcastle United friendly form:

Liverpool friendly form:

Team News

Sales and strains have ravaged Newcastle's midfield this summer, as Jaissle has confirmed that Joelinton will be missing for a couple of weeks with a groin injury, so one of Sean Steur or Aladji Bamba - two of the hosts' new arrivals this summer - should make their full debuts.

Tino Livramento is also still recovering from the calf problem that forced him to withdraw from the England World Cup squad, opening the door for another fresh face in Amar Dedic to line up from the off.

Lukas Hornicek is also primed for his Premier League baptism in between the posts, while Yoane Wissa is expected to occupy the number 10 slot, behind either Nick Woltemade or Yoane Wissa.

As for Liverpool's injury list, long-term absentees Conor Bradley (knee), Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) are still in the recovery phase, as is Joe Gomez, who picked up a fresh muscular problem in pre-season.

Curtis Jones was also struck down by an apparent hip problem, one that raised fans' eyebrows, and with good reason given that the academy graduate is now on the verge of sealing a £30m transfer to Inter Milan.

With Jones departing and World Cup finalist Alexis Mac Allister only just returning, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai are expected to form the double pivot, while Rio Ngumoha fills Mohamed Salah's shoes for the time being.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Hornicek; Dedic, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Ramsey, Steur; Elanga, Wissa, Barnes; Osula

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak

We say: Newcastle United 1-3 Liverpool

Scoring and conceding comes naturally to Newcastle, who ought to experience at least a sliver of joy in front of goal against a defensively-depleted Liverpool outfit.

However, the Iraola attack was firing on all cylinders for much of pre-season - in which the Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak partnership showed new signs of life - so the Reds have our vote to score three and win at St James' Park once again.

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