Newcastle United return to action for the opening weekend of the Premier League season on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Liverpool. It will be the first competitive game in charge of their new clubs for United boss Matthias Jaissle and Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola, who are two of 10 managers in new roles at the start of the top-flight campaign.
The Reds are still waiting to find out exactly who will be available for the first competitive fixture under new head coach Andoni Iraola. Four senior Liverpool players are certain to miss the match as they continue their rehabilitation from injury, with three facing lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Key injuries for Liverpool
Forward Hugo Ekitike is in a race against time to return before the end of the calendar year after suffering a serious Achilles injury in early April, while right-back Conor Bradley is still recovering from the significant knee damage he sustained at Arsenal in early January. Centre-back Giovanni Leoni is creeping closer to a return to first-team training after being absent since last September with an ACL injury, while defender Joe Gomez picked up a muscle complaint in the opening pre-season friendly against Sunderland that has continued to keep him out of contention, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Winger Victor Munoz, who turned down the chance to sign for Newcastle in order to move to Liverpool, has recovered from an injury which ended his World Cup early, but is a doubt due to his lack of pre-season gametime. Several other Liverpool players remain doubtful. Midfielder Curtis Jones, who has attracted transfer interest from Inter, has sat out the last two weekends with a hip problem, while former Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman missed both friendlies against Como on Sunday after nursing an injury throughout pre-season. Young striker Jayden Danns and midfielder Stefan Bajcetic are both ruled out as they recover from muscle problems.
Newcastle's injury concerns
As well as seeing a host of senior players leave the club this summer, Newcastle also have injury concerns over a number of players. Midfielder Joelinton is set to miss several weeks of action while Tino Livramento is not yet ready to start matches after only returning to training this week. Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Lewis Miley have had limited time on the pitch in pre-season but are expected to be named in Matthias Jaissle's first matchday squad.
