Newcastle United v Liverpool - Premier League 2026/27
Andoni Iraola has a lot of work to do after the first game of the season (Image: Getty)
Liverpool were a 98th-minute penalty away from their first defeat on the opening weekend of a Premier League season since 2012. In truth, the Dominik Szoboszlai spot-kick papered over the cracks of what was a testing afternoon on Tyneside for the 2024/25 champions.
After a summer of upheaval at St. James’ Park, Newcastle entered the Sunday clash somewhat of a wounded animal. Instead, it was the toothless Reds who struggled to match the pace being set by their ferocious hosts.
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A Cody Gakpo strike had dragged Liverpool level for the first time in the second half, but twice Andoni Iraola’s side were ripped to shreds on the counter attack. In truth, they probably ought to have suffered even more at the hands of Newcastle, who, on another day, could’ve easily racked up three or four goals.
It was a wake-up call for Liverpool, who with just over a week of the window left to work with, still have plenty of issues left to fix. However, perhaps the biggest problem for the six-time European champions is getting the players already in their squad to start gelling like a coherent team.
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Liverpool went big in the transfer window last summer, signing the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike for a combined £311m, but the newbies struggled to settle in a season that had plenty of mitigating factors.
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Liverpool need Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz to step up (Image: Getty)
Arne Slot has now gone, with Iraola replacing the Dutchman, but on the evidence of Sunday’s clash against Newcastle, there’s a fear the same problems could manifest once again. Ryan Gravenberch (£34m) and Szoboszlai (£60m) looked lost in midfield with Wirtz, while the attack remained as disjointed as ever.
What if Slot was only part of the problem? Because while it still is early days in the Iraola project, and, of course, time should be afforded to the Spanish coach to get things clicking, there is a situation where the players that Liverpool have signed over the last three years just aren’t compatible with one another.
After all, some of them were signed for Jurgen Klopp, some were signed for Slot and now there’s a new manager with new ideas who will be bringing in his own profile of player as well. We might be a week or so away from the transfer window ending, but right now there are more questions than answers for Liverpool.