[Newcastle United](https://readnewcastle.com/2026/08/23/newcastle-united-announce-starting-xi-premier-league-opener-liverpool/) fans would have been worried coming into the opening Premier League game of their campaign. They took on Andoni Iraola’s new-look Liverpool team.
Even though the game was at St James’ Park, Newcastle United were being viewed as the underdogs. That was a direct result of the amount of talent they have lost over the summer as well as the departure of Eddie Howe.
The pre-season results were not much better either. And in Matthias Jaissle, they had a coach who was taking charge of a game in a top five European league for the first time.
Yet, Newcastle United did not look out of place. On the contrary, most would say that they deserved all three points on the day. Unfortunately, a late penalty meant two points were dropped. The Magpies proved though that they cannot be taken lightly.
A lot of Newcastle United players needed to step up to the plate in order to make this result possible. Yoane Wissa’s name is certainly on that list.
Wissa is one of the few players who had looked up for it in pre-season. And before that, he found the back of the net three times for DR Congo at the World Cup.
If anybody had thought that those performances were a purple patch of form, they might have been badly mistaken. Wissa was brilliant in the game against Liverpool as well.
[Chronicle Live](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-player-ratings-910-34503291) gave him a 9/10 rating after the match. When discussing Wissa’s display against Liverpool, the report said:
> No goals but a colossal display as he proved his worth. Strong and sturdy to set up the all-important second goal. Went off to a standing ovation.
It was well-deserved as well. This is a player who has faced his fair share of criticism since joining the club. And most branded him a ‘flop’ after his debut campaign.
Understandably so, he scored just three goals all season and merely one in the Premier League. But Wissa looks intent to change the narrative this season. And if the morning shows the day, then he could be setting up for a phenomenal campaign.
Does this mean that Newcastle United have found their solution at number 9? Well, if Wissa can continue performing like this them they have.
The issue is, will he produce these performances throughout the season? If Newcastle United are not convinced about that, or about Nick Woltemade’s capacity to lead the line on his own, then another signing would be a realistic target.
For now, there is a lot to like about Wissa’s performance against Liverpool. Let’s hope he can build on that moving forward and this becomes the norm.