Into the Unknown: Newcastle Preview
Liverpool head to a very different St James' Park on Sunday.
If Liverpool fans have found their summer to be somewhat underwhelming so far, spare a thought for the Newcastle United fans. When the fixtures were announced, Liverpool’s trip to St James’ Park seemed to be about as tough an opener as Andoni Iraola could have reasonably expected. The feeling around the fixture has shifted considerably since then. Newcastle have lost their talisman in Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazilian was the beating heart of the team and a player whose presence in the eleven has largely dictated the result over his time at the club. Newcastle have also sold Sandro Tonali to Spurs and Anthony Gordon to Barcelona. Kieran Trippier has departed for Wolves and Joelinton is also rumoured to be pushing for a move. Much of the team that beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final in 2025 is now gone and Newcastle find themselves fully rebuilding.
Perhaps most significantly of all, Newcastle and Eddie Howe have parted ways after one of the most successful periods in the club’s recent history. Howe delivered Newcastle a trophy and two seasons of Champions League football, a quite remarkable achievement given his remit was to keep Newcastle in the league when he took charge. Matthias Jaissle, Howe’s successor, joins from the Saudi Pro League following a spell at Al Ahli. He is viewed as a progressive manager with a bright future ahead of him but there is no doubt that he has a difficult task in overseeing the overhaul of Newcastle’s best, or at least most successful, side in decades.
Historically, Liverpool and Newcastle have had an amicable relationship, sharing some iconic moments in Premier League history and have club legends in common such as Kevin Keegan. However, over recent years there has been a growing animosity as the clubs have become rivals for Champions League qualification. The Alexander Isak saga last summer cemented that ill-feeling and his reception on Sunday is likely to be toxic.
Liverpool have an impressive record at St James’ Park. The Reds are unbeaten in their last nine visits with six wins and three draws. Their last defeat was by a 2-0 scoreline in December 2015 with a Martin Skrtel own goal followed by a last-minute sealer from Gini Wijnaldum, who would become a Liverpool player the following summer. Newcastle would go on to be relegated that season and have not beaten Liverpool at home since their return to the Premier League.
Much like Liverpool at Anfield, Newcastle at St James’ can beat anyone on their day. In this fixture last season, ten-man Newcastle trailing Liverpool by two goals fought back to level the match. Liverpool would be wise to offer no encouragement on Sunday. There is a growing sense that if Liverpool can impose themselves on the game, they should have too much for a disjointed Newcastle. But the real danger for Liverpool on Sunday is if the Isak reception and the frustrations of the summer turn St James’ Park into a bear pit against Iraola’s as-yet untested Reds.
