It is Newcastle United v Liverpool in the opening set of fixtures for this 2026/27 Premier League season.
A 4.30pm kick-off at St James’ Park on Sunday 23 August.
A wait of only 13 days now.
It got me thinking…
What kind of team will Newcastle United have on the pitch against the scousers?
Which then got me thinking about 16 March 2025.
This was the Newcastle United team v Liverpool for that Carabao Cup final.
Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento, Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton, Murphy, Barnes, Isak (and subs that were used – Wilson, Willock, Krafth)
Here is a quick rundown on that trophy winning Newcastle United team and their current situations.
Nick Pope
Newcastle United have now brought in Lukas Hornicek as first choice, Ewen Jaouen as number two. With Nick Pope now set to leave and wasn’t included in the matchday squad against Valencia.
Kieran Trippier
Has now moved to Wolves after his Newcastle contract ended.
Fabian Schar
The Swiss central defender is now second choice behind Malick Thiaw.
Dan Burn
England’s Dan Burn is now second choice behind Sven Botman and with his late return after World Cup involvement, is unlikely to be considered as a starter anyway against Liverpool.
Tino Livramento
The injury-plagued full-back is recovering from his latest setback that ruled him out of the World Cup and reported on Sunday in the media that he won’t be ready for this Liverpool game.
Bruno Guimaraes
Our captain moved to Arsenal on Saturday in a £75m deal.
Sandro Tonali
Signed for Tottenham in a £100m deal.
Joelinton
Increasingly injury prone, the Brazil international will turn 30 on Friday and played his first 23 minutes of pre-season against Valencia. Reported that he wants a move to a Saudi club.
Jacob Murphy
Became a squad player last season and widely report to be available for transfer if a club makes a credible offer.
Harvey Barnes
Heads into his fourth season with Newcastle United and will turn 29 in December.
Alexander Isak
Forced a £130m move to Liverpool on deadline day in summer 2025.
Callum Wilson
Moved to West Ham in summer 2025 when his Newcastle contract ended, now moved to Brentford after Hammers relegated.
Joe Willock
A squad player who has one year left on his Newcastle contract and now reported that he will move to Besiktas if they meet United’s valuation.
Emil Krafth
Left Newcastle at the end of June 2026 when his contract ended.
An absolutely remarkable Newcastle United v Liverpool transformation in 17 months once we get to 23 August 2026 and the first match of the season.
It isn’t impossible that not a single one of the 14 Newcastle United players who won the Carabao Cup on 16 March 2025, will start in next month’s EPL opener.
Bruno, Trippier, Tonali, Isak ,Wilson and Krafth have already left.
Pope, Murphy, Willock, Schar and Burn are no longer first choice and the first three of these five will be sold this summer if offers come in that are acceptable.
Which out of the 14 that played in the 2025 Carabao Cup final, that leaves us with Livramento, Joelinton and Barnes.
Livramento isn’t expected to recover in time from injury to face Liverpool
The wear and tear clearly taking its toll on Big Joe with him only starting 23 PL matches last season, he is behind the others as well in terms of pre-season fitness.
Which then leaves us with Harvey Barnes. You might be surprised to hear that he only started 19 Premier League games last season came off the bench in another 18. So not an automatic starter. Whilst many Newcastle fans will expect Harvey Barnes to now become more regular as a starter, due to the changes in personnel. Not impossible that new £43m winger Bazoumana Toure will start on the left and Matthias Jaissle go with pace on both flanks against Liverpool, Anthony Elanga given his chance on the right.
Maybe there will be the odd survivor from the cup triumph when this game at St James’ Park takes place but the Newcastle United team that starts against Liverpool will be unrecognisable from those who did the business at Wembley.
What is for sure, there will be very different faces at the side of the pitch than was the case at Wembley 17 months ago, Eddie Howe has departed, with Jason Tindall, Graeme Jones, Stephen Purches, Simon Weatherstone and Dan Hodges also gone. Matthias Jaissle coming in and bringing his ownbackroom staff.
A lot of talk about how the NUFC ‘project’ has moved from ‘Newcastle United 1.0’ to ‘Newcastle United 2.0’ and when you look at the change of personnel outlined above from 17 months ago, this does for sure feel very different from that day when Eddie Howe and his players overwhelmed Liverpool at Wembley and the scousers were luck to lose only 2-1.