Isak returns to St James’ Park a year after forcing his exit, and both teams have a new manager

Alexander Isak walks back into St James’ Park on Sunday evening wearing red, and Newcastle United have had a year to think about what they want to say to him. The Premier League season opens on Tyneside at 9pm IST, Liverpool are the visitors, and both clubs have a manager taking charge of his first league game. None of that is the reason the fixture was picked for Sky’s Sunday slot.

How it ended

Isak left for Liverpool on deadline day at the close of the 2025 summer window for £125 million, a British record, with add-ons capable of taking the figure to £130 million. The deal went through after a summer in which he stopped training with the Newcastle squad and published a statement saying the relationship “cannot continue”, accusing the club of broken promises and lost trust. Newcastle replied in kind. Nobody involved has pretended since that it was an ordinary transfer.

He has not played at St James’ Park since. Sunday is the first time the ground gets to respond, and the reception is unlikely to be a warm one.

What Newcastle are booing, exactly

The awkward part for anyone in black and white is that Isak was very good for them. Across his final two seasons on Tyneside, only Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah scored more Premier League goals. He also scored in the 2025 League Cup final, the match that ended Newcastle’s long wait for a major trophy, and the opponents that day were Liverpool.

So the crowd will spend Sunday jeering a player who gave them the best thing that has happened to the club in most supporters’ lifetimes. Football does this to people regularly, and it never gets less strange to watch.

A first Liverpool season that never got going

Three Premier League goals. That was the return on the most expensive signing in the league’s history, across a season in which Liverpool finished fifth and Arne Slot lost his job a year after winning the title.

Andoni Iraola, who replaced Slot on a two-year deal after taking Bournemouth to sixth and into Europe for the first time, has been consistently positive about him in public. “I think he was good in the World Cup,” Iraola said in pre-season. “He is going to be massive for us this season.” Whether that reads as belief or as a manager protecting an asset probably depends on how Sunday goes.

Iraola has also been open that he is changing how the team works. “I am asking them to do things that are a little bit different, especially without the ball,” he said after a pre-season match against Como. Liverpool’s summer has backed that up: Jeremy Jacquet arrived from Rennes for around £60 million, Victor Munoz came from Osasuna for about £34 million, and Ronald Araujo joined on loan from Barcelona. Ibrahima Konate left for Real Madrid on a free.

Newcastle sold their spine and are starting again

Matthias Jaissle took the Newcastle job on 5 August, six days after Eddie Howe stepped down, and he inherited a squad that had been taken apart around him. Anthony Gordon went to Barcelona for £69.3 million. Sandro Tonali went to Tottenham in a deal worth up to £100 million. Bruno Guimaraes went to Arsenal for £75 million. That is close to £245 million of first-team football sold in one window.

The money came back in, at least. Bazoumana Toure arrived from Hoffenheim for £42.8 million, Amar Dedic from Benfica for £30.7 million four days before this match, Aladji Bamba from Monaco for £30 million, Sean Steur from Ajax for £23 million, and two goalkeepers in Lukas Hornicek from Braga and Ewen Jaouen from Reims. Six signings for roughly £167 million, and a coach with two and a half weeks to make them into a team. Tino Livramento misses out with a calf injury.

The record is not encouraging for Newcastle

The last five league meetings between them read 4-1, 3-2, 2-0, 3-3 and 4-2, with the only dropped points a draw at St James’ Park in December 2024. The 3-2 at this ground in August 2025 was settled in the 100th minute by Rio Ngumoha, who was 16.

What Newcastle can point to is the one that mattered most. When these two met with a trophy on the table in 2025, Newcastle won it, and Isak was one of the scorers. He is on the other side now.

Where and when

Kick-off at St James’ Park is 9pm IST on Sunday, 23 August. It closes Sunday’s programme, after Brentford put three past Tottenham on Saturday and Hull beat Manchester United 2-0. Fulham against Chelsea on Monday completes the opening round.

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