St James’ Park was full and loud for a fixture that gave both clubs a first competitive look at a new manager.
St James’ Park was full and loud for a fixture that gave both clubs a first competitive look at a new manager.
Matthias Jaissle took the home dugout, Andoni Iraola the away one, and before kick-off both sets of supporters observed a period of applause for Kevin Keegan, a figure central to the history of each club.
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Alexander Isak was booed on every touch on his return to Tyneside.
It didn’t take Newcastle long to make that atmosphere count.
Five minutes in, William Osula broke fast and split the Liverpool defence, finding Anthony Elanga, who outsprinted Milos Kerkez and drove a low finish past Alisson.
First shot of the match, first goal.
Liverpool responded by taking the game over without taking anything from it.
Sixty-nine percent possession in the opening 25 minutes, seven efforts at goal in one spell, and nothing to show for any of it.
Yoane Wissa and Amir Dedic kept Newcastle dangerous, with Dedic’s running down the Liverpool left causing Kerkez repeated problems.
Florian Wirtz won all his one-on-one duels to slow the tide, and Szoboszlai contested six duels before the break.
By half time the visitors led almost every metric that mattered.
Total passes 180 to 166.
Crosses 13 to 2.
Aerial duels won 66.7% against 33.3.
Still 1-0 down.
The second half turned twice in three minutes.
Cody Gakpo arrowed a low shot into the corner on 55 to level it, and the ground had barely settled before Joe Willock, on as a substitute moments after that goal, steered home with his second touch.
His first Premier League goal since February 2024, and his second in ten appearances against Liverpool.
Newcastle went to a back five to protect it.
Alisson kept Wissa out when the game looked done.
Then, deep into added time, Lewis Hall caught substitute Victor Munoz in the box, and Szoboszlai thundered the penalty in with the final kick of the match.
A point, then, in the 99th minute.
Here’s what it told us.
1. Szoboszlai is not a defensive midfielder
He played there today, and he gave everything to the role.
Six duels contested before half time tells you about the effort.
The penalty at the death tells you about the temperament.
But asking a player whose best work comes further forward to anchor a midfield against a side breaking at pace is asking a lot.
Szoboszlai’s value is in his drive through the middle third, his shot from range, his ability to arrive late in the box.
Pinning him to a position that requires him to stay put blunts the thing that makes him effective.
The good news is Iraola clearly rates him enough to trust him with the responsibility.
That’s a manager backing a player, not one out of options.
2. Victor Munoz looks like a quality player
The standout individual takeaway.
Munoz came off the bench and immediately changed the texture of Liverpool’s attack, running directly at a Newcastle back five that had settled into containing the game.
He won the penalty that saved the point.
Iraola’s Bournemouth sides were known for playing to the final whistle and for how well he used his bench.
That trait has travelled with him.
On this evidence, Munoz gives Liverpool something they were missing in the closing stages of tight games last season.
3. Wirtz needs to produce
The defensive contribution was there.
A 100 percent success rate in one-on-one duels stemmed Newcastle’s momentum during a difficult first-half spell, and that’s not nothing from a player signed for his creativity.
What’s missing is the end product.
All that early possession and those seven efforts needed someone operating between midfield and attack to turn territory into clear chances.
He will.
The talent isn’t in question, and neither is his willingness to do the unglamorous side of it.
4. Liverpool need a natural number six
This is the structural point underneath everything else.
Without a specialist holding midfielder, Liverpool’s shape leaves gaps in transition, and Newcastle’s opener came from exactly that.
Iraola’s 4-2-3-1 shifted comfortably to a 4-1-4-1 in attack, and the overload kept a Newcastle back line missing the injured Dan Burn on its toes all afternoon.
The platform is there.
It just needs a player whose job is to protect it.
5. Both full-backs need better end product
Kerkez had a difficult afternoon against Dedic, who was Newcastle’s most consistent threat down that flank.
On the other side, the crossing volume was high without translating into much.
Thirteen crosses and one goal from open play is a conversion problem, not a delivery-volume one.
Worth noting that Jeremy Jacquet, on his first Premier League start, was excellent: four duels from four, 90 percent pass completion, 12 passes into the final third.
If a 21-year-old on debut can deliver that, the standard elsewhere in the back line is reachable.
Two goals at St James’ Park, a point rescued in the 99th minute, and a debutant winning the decisive penalty.
Plenty to build on.