Newcastle United hosted Liverpool in the headline 16:30 match on 23 August 2026.
The fixture was scheduled for St James’ Park on the Sunday of the opening round. It followed the two 14:00 matches involving Manchester City, Bournemouth, Brighton and Aston Villa, making it the day’s later Premier League contest.
The pairing brought together two historic clubs from northern England. Newcastle played at home in Tyneside, while Liverpool travelled from Merseyside for the opening-weekend meeting.
The match was also notable in the fixture announcement because it was the final Sunday game before Fulham versus Chelsea closed the opening round on Monday. Newcastle’s listed opponent was Liverpool, rather than another newly promoted club.