You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Brighton v Aston Villa" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Newcastle match", for example.
Sutton's predictions: Newcastle v Liverpoolpublished at 11:06 BST 23 August
11:06 BST 23 August
I like everything I've seen from new Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle, but he's had the heart ripped out of his team with Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes leaving.
They were two absolute monsters in midfield, who were horrible to play against, but they have gone - and so has the influence of Anthony Gordon and the experience of Kieran Trippier.
It is sad to see. That's not to say Newcastle can't do well now, but I think their fans are realistic about this season and how it will go.
This will be a fascinating game because Liverpool are still adapting to life under Andoni Iraola and have struggled defensively in pre-season. Hopefully they can run for more than half an hour now, too.
I don't think they will have any problems up front, however.
Alexander Isak will get quite a reception - and not in a good way - from the home crowd, but I do think he will shine for Liverpool this year and that starts on Sunday.
Newcastle United v Liverpool: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 13:28 BST 22 August
13:28 BST 22 August
Matthew Hobbs BBC Sport journalist
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.
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 Sport pundit predictions - 'Liverpool might need more time'published at 11:08 BST 22 August
11:08 BST 22 August
Chris Bevan BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
Last season, 22 of 35 BBC predictors had Liverpool down as champions and only three thought they would finish lower than second. This time, only four of 28 have them finishing higher than third.
Thomas Hitzlsperger - Prediction: 2nd
I've gone for them to finish second because I really like the way Iraola's teams play. Also, I am kind of biased here because I am really hoping Wirtz has the season now that people expected him to have last year.
Danny Murphy - Prediction: 3rd
Liverpool might need a bit more time before they are challenging for the title again. I am also not sure whether they think they have already got enough to replace Mohamed Salah by bringing in Victor Munoz and maybe giving Rio Ngumoha a bigger role, or whether they are really going to go for Paris St-Germain's Bradley Barcola, or someone like him, in the next few days.
Sue Smith - Prediction: 4th
I know it's a completely different level and expectation managing Liverpool and it's going be interesting to see how he does in that sort of step up, but all you can judge Iraola on is what he's done at Bournemouth and I think he's been brilliant. Defensively is my concern, though. Especially the right-hand side.
Pressure set to intensify as season gets under waypublished at 18:10 BST 21 August
18:10 BST 21 August
Aadam Patel Liverpool reporter
Image source, Getty Images
For Andoni Iraola, the waiting is almost over and there was certainly a sense of excitement as he spoke to the media before Liverpool's first Premier League game of the season, even if his squad feels thin at the moment.
Iraola is confident that things will be better come the end of the transfer window, in terms of attacking options, but stressed the need to adapt given how the market works.
The focus will be on "improving the squad because we already have very good players here". And the expectation around Anfield is that it will be a busy end to the transfer window for Liverpool.
Curtis Jones is on his way out and Iraola's assessment of that was that he "understood the situation", even though he liked what Jones offered and wanted to keep him.
For now, all eyes are on Sunday where the focus will turn on Alexander Isak as he makes his return to St James' Park. "Everyone will be very motivated and I think it is going to be the same for Alex," said Iraola.
After a season to forget last year for both Isak and Liverpool, the pressure is on to make sure things are different this season.
Iraola spoke about how "lovely" it has been to see the scale of the club whenever they travel, but he will be well aware too that the pressure will only intensify once the campaign gets under way.
Could Man Utd take advantage of Man City and Liverpool transition?published at 17:27 BST 21 August
17:27 BST 21 August
Image source, Getty Images
The Commentators' View trio of John Murray, Ian Dennis and Ali Bruce-Ball have been previewing the new Premier League season as they return for series three of their podcast.
Murray asked his co-hosts: "What is it that is most capturing your imagination about the season of Premier League commentary that lies ahead?"
Dennis responded: "After watching the Community Shield, Arsenal have already laid down a marker.
"I remember the time when Erling Haaland made his debut in the Community Shield at the King Power in Leicester and people were quick to jump to conclusions because he made nine touches or something like that.
"He soon put that to bed but Manchester City, on the evidence of the 90 minutes in Cardiff, didn't look quite up to speed - but that is maybe not surprising given players are still coming back from the World Cup and might not have got the minutes in from pre-season.
"To have lost Pep Guardiola would have been impactful enough, but to have now lost Rodri, as well as Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake - all of that experience - is a massive change for City.
"We'll have to see what happens between now and the end of the transfer window."
After Bruce-Ball agreed about Arsenal's strength, Dennis added: "You could also argue that Liverpool will be in transition this season as well given a new manager in Andoni Iraola.
"There's also no Mo Salah so potentially I'm thinking, could Manchester United look to take advantage of that and be the closest rivals to Arsenal given the impact that Michael Carrick had at the end of last season?"
Murray replied: "The thing I'm most looking forward to is exactly that - to see which one of those teams is going to be able to make a fast start when there's been so much change at so many different clubs."
Iraola on transfers, Jones' exit and vice captainspublished at 15:22 BST 21 August
15:22 BST 21 August
Keifer MacDonald BBC Sport journalist
Media caption,
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle at St James' Park (kick-off 16:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Iraola said he is "excited" for the Premier League's return this weekend and believes he has "good players" who give him a chance to fight for "everything".
The Liverpool manager added that, although he would like to add to his squad before the transfer window closes, he "does not spend too much time thinking about it" and instead insisted he will have to "adapt".
He said that, although he valued Curtis Jones highly, the midfielder made it clear he wanted to leave Liverpool when the pair held talks during the first week of pre-season.
Iraola also backed teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni to step up and be a "valuable" player, should Jones complete a move to Inter Milan. He explained: "I am very happy with Trey. Very, very happy. He has been very good in pre-season. Not only in the games but also when he trains with us and faces top-level players. I have no doubts with Trey. He will be very valuable for us this season and I hope he plays a lot."
On the overall state of his squad as the season begins: "We are not at 100%, but I am happy in the sense that I think we are at a level where we can compete, win games and still be a good team. We definitely need to improve. We will improve. We will try to do it as quickly as possible, but there are always processes."
Following the departures of Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at the end of last season, Iraola said Liverpool have young players "willing" to take on the minutes and "leadership roles" going into a new era at Anfield.
On the importance of keeping Alexander Isak fit, Iraola said: "I think he had a very good World Cup in terms of availability and fitness levels, and I want to keep him there for as long as we can. We know his level and, if we can keep him there, he will score goals and give us a lot."
It was also confirmed that Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai will act as vice-captains to Virgil van Dijk this season, though the former is unlikely to wear the armband due to the complexity of Premier League rules allowing only only captains to speak to referees.
Iraola offered some insight on an unseen aspect of settling in which relates to working with a new team of performance analysts: "The analyst group is very important at clubs. I have come with one analyst who has helped me integrate into the group. I think we are in a good place, but I want us, just like the team, to improve our working relationships, connections and half-time processes because that is the best way to help the players."
Minteh signing 'doesn't signal intent'published at 10:16 BST 21 August
10:16 BST 21 August
Image source, Getty Images
Gareth Roberts, from The Late Challenge podcast, says Liverpool's attempts to sign Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh doesn't "signal intent" after the Reds had a £50m bid rejected.
"It's a strange one, it's out of nowhere," Roberts told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"It's not someone we've particularly been linked with. We still need firepower and creativity on the wings, particularly on the right hand side.
"No-one has previously made a credible link that this is someone Liverpool are trying to buy so it's a little bit out of the blue. It's Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye that we've been consistently linked with and the expectation was something will happen with that.
"So is this almost backing away from that and bidding for this lad if you don't let us have them? Is it to flush out PSG almost? Or is it a bit of a supermarket sweep, last-minute buy sort of thing? Neither of which look great, I would say."
Roberts added: "I don't think it's a signing that is going to have everyone outside of Anfield desperate to get a glimpse of him, it's more a shrug of the shoulders type of signing. His numbers don't particularly excite, he's just a solid Premier League player. If you're buying a player like that, it doesn't signal intent.
"It doesn't say we are trying to win the league or we are going for all four trophies. It more says we've had a look around, we don't really seem to be able to do anything and we need to get the manager something."
'I expect Ngumoha to end season with new squad number and new contract'published at 10:15 BST 21 August
10:15 BST 21 August
Image source, Getty Images
Football historian and author Peter Kenny Jones has backed 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha to start Liverpool's Premier league opener at Newcastle on Sunday on the right wing.
The prodigiously talented youngster impressed during limited starts last season, but did make 30 senior appearances for the Reds.
"Arne Slot, rightly or wrongly, wasn't playing him a lot last season as I think the club were trying to save him," Jones told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"But, every time he came on he was really exciting and it really worked. It looked like he could get in the England squad for the World Cup.
"The only question mark for me is whether he can play off the right. We've seen how he is from the left and how exciting he is.
"This could be a massive season for him. He's still so young and we don't know what will happen in the future, but I expect he'll end the season with a new squad number and a new contract because he's got a few goals and assists.
"He's so exciting to watch - he's a seat clanger they call it where he gets you off your seat. I can't wait to watch him play again this season."
BBC Radio Merseyside's season predictions for Liverpoolpublished at 10:05 BST 21 August
10:05 BST 21 August
Media caption,
The team at Total Sport on BBC Radio Merseyside have made their season predictions for Liverpool's upcoming 2026-27 campaign.
On the show, Carl Woodward, Ian Kennedy, Mike Hughes, Giulia Bould and Phil Munns make predictions for Liverpool's league finish, the Reds' top scorer and also a bold claim for the new season.
Liverpool's numbers last seasonpublished at 09:13 BST 21 August
09:13 BST 21 August
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Image source, Getty Images
As disappointing as last season was for the 2024-25 champions, Liverpool's underlying numbers just about justified their top-five finish - but it is clear there is a lot for new manager Andoni Iraola to improve.
While only the two Manchester clubs took more shots, 11 teams were better than Liverpool at converting them.
But it wasn't so much a finishing problem for Arne Slot's side, it was a creative one as 12 teams fashioned chances that were easier to score, which is why the Reds only ranked sixth for expected goals.
Despite conceding 53 times, surprisingly only three teams gave up fewer chances and only the top two teams had a lower xG against figure.
But only relegated Wolves and Chelsea conceded a higher percentage of their opponents' shots, with Alisson and Giorgi Mamardashvili both ranking among the worst shotstoppers in terms of goals prevented.
While it could have simply been down to them, the fact they both performed poorly suggests they may not have been working in the best environment at the back.
Why was the Premier League so competitive in 2025-26?published at 08:14 BST 21 August
08:14 BST 21 August
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Image source, Getty Images
In the Premier League last season, 13 of the 20 teams finished with between 40 and 60 points - the most in an English top-flight campaign since 2003-04 (also 13).
Was the Premier League so competitive in 2025-26 because the quality of the 'lesser' teams got better or the top teams got worse? It is hard to know for sure.
Given how savvy clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are, the vast amounts of money that enable even bottom-half sides to sign the best talent from abroad and the Premier League's current dominance of the Europa League and Conference League, it would seem to be the former.
However, the fact that promoted play-off winners Sunderland were able to finish above 13 teams in their first season back suggests the league was maybe not as strong as we think.
What we do know is that whether because they got worse or their opponents got better, four of the sides that finished in the top seven in 2024-25 - champions Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest - took 79 points fewer between them last season.
While Forest's decline was perhaps expected given their incredible seventh-place finish in 2024-25 and their journey to the Europa League semi-finals last season, the others were far more surprising.
Sunderland and Leeds smashed the recent run of promoted sides struggling to compete by taking 64 more points than the teams they replaced in the top flight.
As a result, this season will be a bit of an upside-down one in that Bournemouth, Brighton and Sunderland have European campaigns to navigate while Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle do not.
Will we therefore see a bounce-back to the more 'traditional' order in 2026-27 or are we truly entering a new, fiercely-competitive era of the Premier League?
Liverpool losing a solid squad optionpublished at 19:18 BST 20 August
19:18 BST 20 August
Aadam Patel Liverpool reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Curtis Jones wanted to explore a new opportunity in Italy - and Liverpool did not want to stand in his way.
Last summer, it was Trent Alexander-Arnold who left his boyhood club for Real Madrid. This summer, it is Jones who has done the same, although his destination is Milan.
From Liverpool's perspective, a £30m package represents good value as Jones only had one year left on his current deal.
Selling Jones also generates immediate pure profit on a homegrown asset. It was either sell him now, sell him for less in January or let him leave for free next summer.
On the pitch, Jones was versatile enough to play in a number of positions but he struggled to make one role his own. Off the pitch, Jones has always been honest and someone willing to take responsibility.
He played 95 games for Liverpool in two seasons under former boss Arne Slot, so his presence as a solid squad option will be missed under Andoni Iraola.
But it will give an opportunity for 19-year-old Trey Nyoni, who impressed in pre-season, to step up.
"I rate Curtis very highly," Iraola said in his first news conference after taking charge of the Reds, adding he wanted Jones to stay and "continue performing the way he has been performing".
He also highlighted that the player is a local lad - "he is Scouse, he is from here" - but with Jones now on his way, it means Liverpool will have no Scousers in their first-team squad.
'We don't have a point to prove to anyone' - Van Dijkpublished at 14:42 BST 20 August
14:42 BST 20 August
Image source, Getty Images
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted last season's title defence was "unacceptable", but he believes the players "have an opportunity to turn it around" under new head coach Andoni Iraola.
The Reds still qualified for Champions League football despite finishing fifth in the Premier League last season with 60 points.
"We all know how tough it will be, but if you aren't up for the challenge then you aren't at the right place," Van Dijk said. "What I feel at the moment is everybody is up for the challenge.
"Let's see how we go about it. I'm really looking forward to this season.
"I don't feel we have a point to prove to anyone. We just have to show how much we care, how much we want to fight for this badge and also realise how privileged we are to be playing for Liverpool."
The 35-year-old will welcome better cover in central defence this season, with Liverpool signing Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo while Giovanni Leoni is close to a return from an ACL injury
There will also be a new style of play under Iraola, who won plaudits for his brand of football during his time at Bournemouth.
"If you look at Bournemouth last season, they were pretty exciting," Van Dijk added. "If we keep working, believing and showing our quality, we can be very excited.
"We need everyone to be fit. We need a squad that is able to compete on all four fronts, that's the only way to try to be successful.
"Let's see what the last couple weeks of the transfer window brings and then let's go for it."
Image source, BBC Sport
