Liverpool have been forced to make a change to their kit ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League season. The Reds begin their campaign with a trip to Newcastle United on Sunday, marking the start of the Andoni Iraola era.
The gold Premier League badge, which was added to the sleeve of the champions' shirt, has been removed and given to Arsenal. The badge was first introduced for the 2015/16 season, meaning Liverpool had the honour for two seasons, having also won the title in 2019/20. This will be Arsenal's first season with the patch, as they have not won the league since 2004.
Tough start for Liverpool
Liverpool have been handed a difficult opening fixture against a Newcastle side also embarking on a fresh start following the departure of head coach Eddie Howe and numerous key players, including Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon.
For the Reds, Alexander Isak is preparing to face his former club for the first time following the transfer saga that dominated last summer's window. Isak had not quite signed when the sides met at St James' Park last August and then missed the reverse fixture at Anfield.
Defensive concerns and new signings
There are arguably more concerns about Liverpool's defence, with Virgil van Dijk accepting it will take time to build a connection with new signings Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo. Jacquet is likely to start at Newcastle, and Van Dijk knows that, for all their time on the training ground, it is only in matches that they will be able to build a proper relationship.
Van Dijk said: "I won't say it's the only way, but games are totally different than training. Jeremy's English is, I would say, a bit better than Ronald's. But at the end of the day, we are all pretty good footballers, we can see and smell some moments on how to defend certain situations. But it's pretty clear that you need to form a connection together and that takes a bit of time. That's absolutely normal, but hopefully we can get that going as quickly as possible."
