Newcastle United v Liverpool: Key stats and talking points

St James' Park plays host to the meeting of two new managers this weekend as one of the highest scoring fixtures in Premier League history resumes on Tyneside. Andoni Iraola ended three seasons at Bournemouth with a bang after leading the Cherries to European football for the first time and his arrival at Liverpool earlier this summer was well received following the decline under predecessor Arne Slot. Following their title win with 84 points under Slot in 2024-25, Liverpool slipped to sixth last season after earning just 60. It was the biggest drop-off in terms of the overall points tally of any Premier League team when comparing the past two campaigns. [BBC] The arrival of Iraola, however, has been tempered by fan frustration surrounding Liverpool's limited transfer activity following the departure of Mohamed Salah. Salah scored 257 goals and provided 120 assists in 442 games for the club but Liverpool have yet to bring in a new right winger, while the squad also looks light in central midfield where Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister are the only senior options. Salah's absence and the lack of a direct replacement is likely to result in an increased focus on Alexander Isak. The £125m signing struggled amid injury problems after swapping St James' Park for Anfield in a protracted move last summer. He returns to his former club for the first time on Sunday afternoon having scored just four goals in 22 games for Liverpool so far. Newcastle kick off proceedings without Eddie Howe for the first time in five years, with replacement Matthias Jaissle taking charge of a Premier League side for the first time in his career. Jaissle has won his opening game in charge at his three previous clubs and his Al-Ahli side were unbeaten at home in the Saudi Pro League last season. The former Salzburg boss has midfield woes of his own to contend with following the departures of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, while Anthony Gordon has also been sold to Barcelona. Newcastle have made seven new signings but a focus on youth means that a side that finished 12th last season is very much in transition. Jaissle's immediate task may be to simply steady the ship. The Magpies have both scored (14) and conceded (13) in each of their last seven Premier League home games, while they have failed to defeat the Reds in the past 19 league meetings (D5, L14). Liverpool had struggles of their own on the road last season, losing nine matches, but they have opened with a victory in each of the past 13 seasons. Whoever the winner, one thing that this Premier League fixture usually promises is goals. There have been 198 scored so far – two more would make it just the third fixture in the competition's history to reach a double century. [BBC]