🏏 Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:30 BST
Newcastle United
vs
Liverpool FC
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Both Newcastle and Liverpool open their campaign here in this Matchweek 1 fixture. Of the 16 clubs who have already played once, Brighton lead on a goal difference of plus four, with Arsenal and Brentford also on three points at plus three. Neither side wants to start the season already chasing the pace-setters.
- The headline storyline is Alexander Isak (26) facing his former club. The Sweden international left Newcastle for Liverpool in a record English transfer, and now leads the line at his old home ground, where his 192cm frame is paired with unusually good close control. Waiting for him is a tall centre-back pairing: left-footed Sven Botman (26, 193cm), a Ligue 1 winner with Lille, and ex-AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw (25, 194cm).
- With both teams lined up in a 4-2-3-1, the double pivot battle should decide the rhythm. Newcastle field two youngsters: 18-year-old Sean Steur, signed from Ajax for around 23 million pounds to help rebuild the midfield after Tonali's exit, alongside academy graduate Lewis Miley (20, 189cm, CM), who debuted in the Premier League at 16. Liverpool counter with Ajax-schooled anchor Ryan Gravenberch (24, 190cm) and Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai (25).
- Florian Wirtz (23) starts as the No.10 and was the creative heartbeat of Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga title win. His control in tight areas and weight of final pass are elite, so the space between Newcastle's teenage-and-20-year-old pivot and their centre-backs is the zone to watch. How well Steur and Miley police that pocket may define the home side's afternoon.
- The right flank promises a pure speed duel. Jeremie Frimpong (25, 172cm), another product of that unbeaten Leverkusen side, is a hyper-attacking full-back with a winger's goal output. Attacking into the space he vacates is Harvey Barnes (28), whose explosive acceleration and right-footed cut-ins were honed at Leicester City. Whoever wins the transitions on that side gains the initiative.
- Newcastle's attack pairs 191cm William Osula (23), a Denmark international signed from Sheffield United, at centre-forward with Yoane Wissa (29) just behind him. The DR Congo forward set Brentford's club record for Premier League goals and thrives running in behind. Liverpool answer with an old-and-new centre-back partnership: 35-year-old captain Virgil van Dijk (195cm) and 21-year-old Jeremie Jaquet, recruited from Rennes.
- There is a neat Chelsea-academy subplot on Liverpool's right. Rio Ngumoha (17, 170cm) moved from Chelsea's U18s, debuted in the Premier League at 16 and became the club's youngest ever scorer with a late winner against Newcastle. The man tasked with containing him is another Chelsea academy graduate, left-footed left-back Lewis Hall (21).
- Japan captain Wataru Endo (33, CDM) waits on the Liverpool bench. A ball-winning specialist who was crowned the Bundesliga's duel king at Stuttgart, he is the type of substitute brought on to shut a midfield down late. Curiously, Newcastle's bench also holds a Stuttgart alumnus in Nick Woltemade (24, 198cm), who arrived for a club-record fee after scoring 17 Bundesliga goals.
- The goalkeeping contrast is stark. Newcastle start 198cm Lukas Hornicek (24), who left Pardubice for Braga in the Czech club's biggest ever sale and has one senior Czech Republic cap, marking him as a long-term No.1 project. Liverpool have 33-year-old Alisson Becker (193cm), the former Roma keeper whose shot-stopping reflexes and comfort in possession remain among the best in the game.
- Newcastle's bench offers plenty of variety. Jacob Murphy (31), a high-volume crosser from the right who helped deliver the 2025 Carabao Cup under Eddie Howe, sits alongside Jacob Ramsey (25, CM), an Aston Villa academy product and U21 European champion, and Bazoumana Toure (20), a left-footed winger from Hoffenheim with two goals in six caps for Ivory Coast. Veteran Fabian Schar (34) also brings a set-piece goal threat if the game opens up.