Sunday, 23 August, Newcastle open the Premier League 2026-27 season at home against Liverpool, kicking off at 4:30pm at St James’ Park, according to the club’s official fixture announcement. Sky Sports will carry the match live. It marks the 12th time in the last 15 top-flight campaigns that Newcastle have opened a season on home soil.
That homecoming arrives with an uncomfortable footnote attached. Newcastle have not beaten Liverpool in the Premier League at St James’ Park since December 2015, when a 2-0 win remains the last time the hosts got the better of their visitors in that exact fixture.
The broader head-to-head skews just as heavily toward Anfield’s side. Across the last 35 league meetings between the two clubs, Liverpool have won 23, Newcastle have managed only five, and seven matches finished level. Going back through every competition since the clubs first met, Liverpool hold a 96-51 edge over 192 games, with 45 draws, a gap that gives this fixture a long and lopsided history worth revisiting through the lens of England’s biggest club rivalries, the kind explored in a broader look at the culture behind major soccer rivalries.
The most recent meeting did nothing to interrupt that pattern. Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-1 at Anfield on 31 January 2026, the last time the two sides faced off before this season’s opener.
Last season’s version of this fixture followed a familiar script of its own. Newcastle hosted Liverpool in round two of 2025-26, on 25 August 2025, still chasing a first win after opening with a scoreless draw against Aston Villa. Liverpool arrived off a 4-2 win over Bournemouth in their own opener that year.
Matthias Jaissle now occupies the home technical area, having replaced Eddie Howe as Newcastle manager. He said as much after a 3-1 defeat to Everton in a preseason friendly on 13 August. “For sure, we cannot be at our peak [against Liverpool], this is clear,” Jaissle said.
Part of that caution stems from a right-back position stripped almost bare. Tino Livramento underwent minor knee and calf surgery in June, while Lewis Miley remains out with a fractured leg. Newcastle also lost Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth and Matt Targett from that position this transfer window, leaving Jaissle with few recognized options at his disposal for the opener.
Jaissle already knows one potential fix well. The manager worked with Benfica right-back Amar Dedic at both FC Liefering and Red Bull Salzburg, a prior relationship that could speed up any integration should Newcastle land him before the Liverpool match.
Newcastle are working to close the gap at right-back by pursuing Dedic, whose contract carries a release clause of 50 million euros, the kind of figure that turns any deal into release-clause territory rather than a straightforward transfer. Whether that fee gets paid before 23 August will determine how much cover Jaissle has at the back when Liverpool arrive at St James’ Park.
