Andoni Iraola's Premier League Challenge: Liverpool vs Newcastle
Andoni Iraola walks into the Premier League spotlight on Sunday with as tough an opening act as any new Liverpool manager could ask for: a trip to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United, and a fanbase expecting both a response and a reset.
Liverpool’s fifth-place finish last season still hangs in the air. It wasn’t a collapse, but it wasn’t what this club believes it should be. A title charge is the dream, yet Iraola’s first campaign is really about something more subtle: proof that this team is edging back towards major silverware, even as he wrestles with a squad that already looks stretched.
Jeremy Jacquet is the headline arrival, a £60million signing from Rennes whose deal was wrapped up last year. Ronald Araujo has come in on loan from Barcelona, Victor Munoz from Osasuna to bolster the depth. The attack, though, still looks light for a side with ambitions on multiple fronts. The rebuild feels half-done.
All of which makes Iraola’s first team sheet feel significant. One wrong call in the North East and the mood at Anfield could sour before the season has even started to breathe.
Three decisions stand out.
Araujo over Jacquet at centre-back
The temptation will be there. New era, big signing, big stage. But starting Jacquet at St James’ Park would be a gamble that borders on reckless.
The French defender hasn’t played a competitive minute since early February. Across pre-season he managed just 45 minutes because of injury. Throwing him straight into the noise and intensity of Newcastle away, in a stadium that feeds off any sign of weakness, is asking for trouble.
Liverpool are short at centre-back with Joe Gomez out, but Iraola does have Araujo. The Barcelona loanee is undercooked in terms of minutes as well, with only a half of football in pre-season, yet his rhythm carried right through to the end of last season in La Liga. More importantly, he knows what it is to live inside hostile atmospheres. Seven years at the Nou Camp harden a player to pressure.
Picking Jacquet from the start would send a bold message. It wouldn’t necessarily send the right one.
Ngumoha’s moment on the right
On the right wing, the risk calculation changes completely.
Where Iraola can afford to be cautious at centre-back, he has almost no room to manoeuvre out wide. Rio Ngumoha, just 17, looks like the answer he has to trust.
Yes, the same caveats apply: inexperience, the chaos of St James’ Park, the step up in intensity. Iraola could shift Victor Munoz into an unfamiliar role on the flank and try to lean on experience instead. But Ngumoha has earned something more than a token nod. His pre-season form has demanded a serious look.
This isn’t a blind leap of faith either. The teenager already has history in this fixture. Last season he settled the game here with a nerveless finish past Nick Pope at the Leazes End in the 100th minute, a moment that announced his fearlessness as much as his talent.
With Alexander Isak returning to his former home and the noise set to spike again, Liverpool will need players who don’t flinch. Ngumoha has already shown he can live in that storm. On the right, the shirt should be his.
Mac Allister on the bench, midfield reset
If there is one area where Iraola can genuinely experiment, it is the middle of the pitch.
Even with Curtis Jones expected to join Inter Milan, Liverpool are stacked in midfield: Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, Trey Nyoni and Stefan Bajcetic all offer different shapes and speeds to the game.
That depth gives Iraola licence to make a call that will raise eyebrows: leaving Mac Allister out at St James’ Park.
The reasoning is blunt. The Argentine played just 54 minutes in total during pre-season after an extended break following his World Cup exertions. He is nowhere near full rhythm. On top of that, his 2025/26 campaign never really caught fire. There were flashes, but long stretches where he struggled to impose himself.
Iraola has the tools to try something sharper from the start. A trio of Szoboszlai, Gravenberch and Wirtz offers energy, vertical running and creativity in equal measure, and the balance on paper looks cleaner than forcing Mac Allister into the mix before he is ready.
This is the sort of early-season call that defines a manager’s tone. Does he lean on reputation, or on what the team needs right now?
On Sunday in the North East, with the noise rising and the new era under the microscope, we’re about to find out.
