Liverpool travel to St James' Park to take on Newcastle United on Sunday and both sides are without players for their opening Premier League clash
Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola will lead Liverpool in the Premier League for the first time against Newcatle(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
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Liverpool's clash against Newcastle could see as many as sixl players absent as the teams kick off their Premier League seasons. Andoni Iraola will take charge of the Reds in the competition for the first time and face off against Matthias Jaissle, making his debut in the division.
Iraola will hope to get off to a winning start at St James' Park but has yet to be able to assess his full array of players such is his injury list. And that is no different heading into the opening match of the season.
The Spaniard will once again be without a number of stars who are among the club's long-term absentees. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leonni remain out of contention after suffering serious issues last term.
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Bradley is not expected back until 2027, while Ekitike is still set to be unavailable for a matter of months. Leoni is on course to return before that duo but may yet spend a year out of action, having suffered his ACL injury last September.
Iraola will also be without Joe Gomez, who is not expected back until next month. The former Bournemouth boss said in pre-season that it would be 'impossible' for him to return in time for the start of the new campaign following his muscle injury.
There has also been plenty of chatter of Alexander Isak's availability. Iraola has confirmed that he will need to be managed following his issues last season but believes the Swede is in a good place, and he has travelled with the squad.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 9: Alexander Isak of Liverpool during the during the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and AS Monaco at Anfield on August 9, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Alexander Isak will return to Newcastle United for the first time this weekend after his bitter £125m move to Liverpool (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
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"Right now I think he is in a very good place, he's been training every day," Iraola said in his press conference. "He hasn't missed a training session, he's adding more and more minutes in every friendly game.
"I think that he already played a very good World Cup in terms of availability, fitness level. I want to keep him there as much as we can because we know his level and if we can keep him there, he will score the goals, he will give us a lot of things."
Meanwhile, Newcastle are without two important players. The Magpies, having lost key midfielders Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes this summer, will be without Joelinton.
"For sure out for a couple of weeks but I don't want to go too much in detail as there will always be specialists involved," Jaissle explained. "The medical department is aware of it, we have top staff when it comes to that and I am really confident he will be back as soon as possible."
Newcastle's new boss will also be without Tino Livramento after the former Chelsea trainee saw his World Cup dream ended by a training ground injury in the United States.
"For sure, too early [to return against Liverpool]," Jaissle said. "He had just one training where he was partially involved.
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"So we need to be smart with his progress now. We can't wait until he is 100% ready. He has huge potential and I love him."
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