Iraola's Liverpool Debut: Key Decisions Ahead of Newcastle Clash
Andoni Iraola steps into the Liverpool dugout for the first time on Sunday, and there are far easier ways to start a new era than a trip to St James’ Park.
Newcastle away. Opening weekend. A restless fanbase desperate to see signs that last season’s fifth-place finish was a blip, not a new reality. This is where Iraola’s Liverpool project has to show its first hints of shape.
The title talk can wait. With a thin squad and several key players short of full fitness, this season is as much about direction as it is about destination. But that doesn’t soften the stakes on Tyneside. A poor result and the mood around Anfield could sour before the campaign has even begun.
Three big calls sit in front of Iraola. Get them right, and he buys himself time. Get them wrong, and the questions start early.
Araujo over Jacquet at centre-back
Jeremy Jacquet is the £60million headline act, the marquee arrival from Rennes whose deal was lined up last year. But St James’ Park is no place to ease someone back into football after months on the sidelines.
He hasn’t played a competitive minute since early February. He managed just 45 minutes across pre-season because of injury. Throwing him straight into a Premier League debut in one of the league’s most hostile arenas would be less bold and more reckless.
Liverpool are short at centre-back with Joe Gomez injured, but Iraola does have Ronald Araujo. The Barcelona loanee is hardly fully tuned up himself after only a half of pre-season football, yet his rhythm from the end of last season and his experience in high-stakes games count for plenty.
Seven years at the Nou Camp harden a defender. He knows what it is to walk into intimidating stadiums and play with something on the line.
Picking Jacquet from the start would make a statement. It just wouldn’t be the right one. Araujo has to anchor that back line on Sunday.
Ngumoha’s moment on the right
The calculation is different on the flank.
Rio Ngumoha is 17. Raw. Inexperienced. On paper, he carries the same risks as Jacquet: youth, limited minutes, and the chaos of an opening-day cauldron. On the grass, though, he has earned his shot.
Iraola could try to fudge it. He could shift Victor Munoz out of position and ask the Osasuna recruit to do a job on the right wing. But pre-season pointed in another direction. Ngumoha impressed, again and again, and that matters when options are thin.
He also knows this fixture. He decided it last season, slipping away late and finishing past Nick Pope at the Leazes End in the 100th minute. That kind of memory doesn’t guarantee anything, but it does tell you something about temperament.
Fearlessness will be essential, especially with Alexander Isak back on familiar ground and the noise in the stands cranked up another level. Ngumoha has shown he can live in that chaos.
On the right wing, Iraola doesn’t really have a luxury choice. He has a teenager who’s done everything to justify a start. He should trust him.
Mac Allister the fall guy in midfield
If Liverpool look light at the back and stretched in attack, the picture in midfield is very different.
Even with Curtis Jones expected to join Inter Milan, Iraola can still choose from Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, Trey Nyoni and Stefan Bajcetic. That’s depth. That’s room to experiment.
And this is where he should be ruthless.
Mac Allister barely featured in pre-season, playing just 54 minutes after an extended break following his World Cup exertions. Match sharpness is an issue. So is form. He struggled through large spells of the 2025/26 campaign, never quite nailing down the role or the influence Liverpool needed from him.
Iraola doesn’t have to build around him. Not now.
A midfield trio of Szoboszlai, Gravenberch and Wirtz offers a cleaner balance: energy, progression, creativity. It looks more in tune with the aggressive, front-foot football Iraola is expected to bring. This is the combination he should roll with from the first whistle at St James’ Park.
Leaving out a World Cup winner on day one is a big call. It’s also the kind of call that signals a new order.
Liverpool arrive in the north-east with a new manager, a stretched squad and little margin for early missteps. Araujo at the heart of defence, Ngumoha unleashed on the right, Mac Allister watching on as a reshaped midfield takes charge — those decisions won’t just shape one afternoon on Tyneside.
They’ll tell everyone exactly what kind of Liverpool Iraola intends to build.
