The Reds travel to St James’ Park to kick off their Premier League 26/27 campaign, a game that will see new manager Andoni Iraola in the dugout for the first time. The Basque head coach will not be the only gaffer trying to get off to a winning start at his new club, Matthias Jaissle is also taking charge for the very first time.

Liverpool concluded their pre-season tour with a 2-0 victory over Italian side Como at Anfield last weekend, with debutant Jeremy Jacquet getting on the scoresheet. Iraola will be hoping his side can take that winning momentum into the opening game of the season.

This weekend will be the start of a new era for the Reds, but Iraola will be hoping he can get off to a better start than the previous managers. Only one manager out of the previous five has won their first match in the Premier League for the Reds, that was Arne Slot in his title-winning campaign.

A stat that will give Iraola confidence: Liverpool are currently unbeaten in their previous 13 opening Premier League games. The last time the Reds tasted defeat on opening day was in 2012, a 3-0 defeat away at West Brom in Brendan Rodgers’ first match as Liverpool manager.

This game last season caused a lot of drama; Rio Ngumoha sent a dagger into Newcastle hearts as he scored a 100th-minute winner. The perfect moment for the youngster to score his first goal for the club in a dramatic 3-2 victory for the visitors.

Newcastle v Liverpool | Premier League Match Preview

Form Guide…

This fixture has not been a kind one to the hosts, with the Magpies winless in their previous 19 Premier League matches against the Reds. Drawing on five occasions and suffering defeat a staggering 14 times.

The new Newcastle boss will be hoping to change that record on Sunday, after having a very short pre-season with his new club. Matthias Jaissle took over from Eddie Howe halfway through their preparations for the new campaign, the previous manager seemingly having had enough with the transfer business on Tyneside.

The German head coach managed his first game only 13 days ago following his move from Al-Ahli, a very limited amount of time to get his ideology across to the new squad.

Something Andoni Iraola will be looking at as a positive: the lack of preparation could make it the perfect time for this fixture to come around for the Reds. This can also make the opposition very unpredictable; Iraola’s backroom staff does not have much information to help prepare for this game.

The Reds endured a mixed bag of results during Iraola’s first pre-season. In the six occasions Liverpool took to the pitch, they won three times, lost twice and drew once. A great chance for the new manager to test out his entire squad and find out who he wants to keep around for the new season.

Iraola said: “I feel excited. I feel it in the atmosphere with the players; this week has been different to friendlies. So I am looking forward to Sunday, to feel the pressure and the competition; it is what we like.”

“Expectations? The goals – I want to be a really good team, use the players I have in the best way.”

Anticipated Debuts….

The stage is set for three Liverpool players to make their Premier League debuts this weekend: Jeremy Jacquet, Ronald Araujo and Victor Munoz could all take to the pitch for the first time in the Premier League as Liverpool players.

None of the three is expected to play the full 90 minutes, but the Liverpool faithful should expect to see all of them appear in this blockbuster fixture.

Munoz will anticipate a frosty welcome to St James’ Park, with the winger moments away from joining Newcastle until Liverpool swooped in and hijacked the deal earlier in the transfer window.

It is yet to be seen whether the manager gives the nod to either Jacquet or Araujo to partner Virgil Van Dijk, both debutants playing 45 minutes each in the victory against Como.

Newcastle v Liverpool | Andoni Iraola Pre-Match Press Conference

Vice-Captains announced….

Andoni Iraola also announced Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai will serve as vice-captains to Virgil Van Dijk this season. Due to the rules around captaincy, Alisson is unlikely to wear the captain’s armband often.

Iraola said: “Virgil, Alisson, Gomez and Szoboszlai. I explained to Alisson that it might not be possible for him to wear the armband because of the big limitation on goalkeepers wearing the armband.”

“I had one season with Neto at Bournemouth, and then you have to use a different player that can act as a captain, and it’s not viable. But I wanted to let him know he is valuable, so I explained that to Alisson. He is a goalkeeper.”

Injury updates…

Iraola did not provide any new injury updates ahead of the game this weekend.

Hugo Ekitike, Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni all remain out for this fixture.

Predictions…

XI – Alisson, Frimpong, Araujo, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ngumoha, Gakpo, Isak

Score – Newcastle 1-3 Liverpool