Newcastle Utd returns to action on Saturday when they face Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium in the 5:30pm ko, live on Sky Sports.
 
Brighton have won two of their three premier league games this season with 4:1 victories home and away against Luton and Wolves respectively, although they came unstuck in their last home outing losing 3:1 to West Ham Utd.
 
Eddie Howe meanwhile will be looking to get back to winning ways after having their pockets picked by Liverpool last weekend.
 
A nationwide strike by the RMT union will affect trains across the country on Saturday and Southern Railway will be operating a limited service across its network, with a later start up and earlier finish and some routes not served at all.
 
All home and away fans can travel for free between 4.15pm and midnight
on buses and trains within the Brighton travel zone on production of a digital matchday ticket. 
 
Brighton added Carlos Baleba to their squad this week with the 19-year-old joining from Lille for a fee of £23.2m and in doing so became their sixth signing of the season to date.
 
The youngster was signed to fill the hole left by Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, who joined Chelsea from Brighton for a British record £115m.
 
Seagulls boss Roberto de Zerbi said: "He will be the future of the club." And without getting into the semantics, one wonders whether de Zerbi means he has been signed in the hope that they can sell him on for a record fee in 12 months’ time. Todd Boehly will no doubt be already on alert.
 
Beleba joins fellow summer signings Bart Verbruggen, Joao Pedro, Mahmoud Dahoud, James Milner and Igor Julio for an outlay of £84m.
 
Brighton are also linked with an audacious loan bid for Barcelona’s 20-year-old starlet Ansu Fati. Both Spurs and Chelsea have been linked with Fati this week, but Brighton, have emerged as the front-runners to conclude a deal although Seville have also thrown their hat into the ring with a late bid for the Spanish International striker.
 
Newcastle Utd will be without Sven Botman for the trip to the south coast after he went down with an ankle injury late on against Liverpool. The game also comes too early for Emil Krafth and Joe Willock; both of whom are expected to be available after the international break. 
 
Meanwhile Howe, like the rest of Tyneside will be hoping to have Joelinton available for selection. 
 
While minds may drift towards the prospect of the European nights to come against PSG, Dortmund and AC Milan, Howe will be very much focussed on the here and now as he looks for a big performance and three points.
 
The referee is Stuart Atwell, and he will be assisted by Constantine Hatzidakis and James Mainwaring. Fourth official is Craig Pawson.
 
The VAR hut will be manned by Darren Bond, and he will be assisted if that’s the word, by Ian Hussin.

Newcastle supporters were handed the mouth-watering prospect of Eddie Howe’s squad facing off against Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan at St James’ Park following this evenings Champions League draw.
 
The prospect of Mbappe on Tyneside was realised with gasps of astonishment from those inside the Grimaldi forum in Monaco when Newcastle Utd were placed in Group F and in doing so entered what was quickly labelled “the supergroup of death” by Chief executive Darren Eales.
 
For some Newcastle fans they would not have it any other way as the return of European nights on Tyneside have been a long time waiting; while the prospect of seeing the team go up against European elite at the group stages is for others the thing of dreams.
 
And for the players it is an opportunity to enter their names into Tyneside footballing folklore in the same way that Tino Asprilla did so some 26 years ago back in September 1997. 
 
Tino’s hattrick against Barcelona stunned the footballing world and there is no reason why any of the current United squad cannot write their own piece of Tyneside history in the six group games to come.
 
Paris, Dortmund, Milan here we come!

The draw for the third round of the carabao Cup has presented Newcastle Utd with a home tie against Manchester City.
The game will be played in the week commencing 25th September and its outcome will be decided on the night via penalties if the two sides are level after 90 minutes
 
This will be the fifth time the clubs have met in one of the many iterations of what was originally referred to as the League Cup, with the sides meeting in the final in 1976 when City ran out 2:1 winners.

 The draw for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League takes place in Monaco on Thursday 31st August commencing at 5pm BST.
 
For those wishing to tune in to watch this extravaganza the draw will be streamed live on UEFA’s official website. It will also be shown live on the TNT Sports (formerly BT Sports) channel.
 
Qualifying teams are placed in pots 1 to 4 
 
One team from each pot will be drawn into a group. Teams from the same national association cannot be placed into the same group.
The final will be played at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday, June 1.
 
Manchester City take their place in Pot 1 as titleholders, along with Sevilla, who won the UEFA Europa League. The rest of the top pot is made up of the champions of the top six leagues as well as Feyenoord; the Eredivisie winners are promoted from Pot 3 as Pep Guardiola's team also won the Premier League.
Pots 2-4 are built based on UEFA's five-year coefficient score.
 
 Pot 1

• Manchester City
• Sevilla
• Barcelona
• Napoli
• Bayern Munich
• Paris Saint-Germain
• Benfica
• Feyenoord

 
Pot 2

• Real Madrid
• Manchester United
• Inter Milan
• Borussia Dortmund
• Atletico Madrid
• RB Leipzig
• Porto
• Arsenal

 
Pot 3

• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Red Bull Salzburg
• AC Milan
• Braga
• PSV Eindhoven
• FC Copenhagen
• Red Star Belgrade

 
Pot 4

• Newcastle Utd
• Celtic
• Real Sociedad
• Young Boys
• Union Berlin
• Galatasaray
• Antwerp
• Lens

 
The key group stage dates are
 
Matchday
Dates
Matchday 1
September 19 & 20

Matchday 2
October 3 & 4

Matchday 3
October 24 & 25

Matchday 4
November 7 & 8

Matchday 5
November 28 & 29

Matchday 6
December 12 & 13

 The winners and runners up in each group progress to the next stage while the third-placed team enters the UEFA Europa League.

 Newcastle players and fans alike were left stunned by Darwin Nunez’ two late goals as 10 man Liverpool walked away with all three points in an event laden game on Sunday afternoon.
 
By the time Nunez entered the fray with 13 minutes remaining, the three points looked like they were heading only one way and it wasn’t back to Merseyside.
 
But fine margins and excellent finishing from the Uruguayan changed all that and a jubilant Jurgen Klopp will be well chuffed that his decision to throw Nunez on paid off.
 
Eddie Howe meanwhile is probably still scratching his head and asking what he did wrong in those final 13 minutes plus 5 added on.
 
The game started at a breakneck pace, and it was no surprise when the first booking came as early as the 6th minute when Trent Alexander Arnold reacted to not getting a free kick following a robust challenge from Anthony Gordon by throwing the ball back onto the pitch. Referee John Brooks immediately showed Trent a yellow card but whether it was for dissent or timewasting was anyone’s guess, including Brooks himself no doubt.
 
Gordon was proving to be a problem for Liverpool and in particular Alexander Arnold who was lucky not to receive a second yellow for a pull back on Gordon bringing him only a stern warning from the referee.
 
In the 25th minute Gordon put Newcastle into the lead when he latched on to some poor control by Alexander Arnold and broke free to slot the ball past the advancing Allison in the Liverpool goal.
 
Three minutes later and another through ball saw Isak break free only to be brought down by Virgil van Dijk who was rightly presented with a straight red card.
 
With Liverpool down to 10 men only an amazing double save by Allison from a bullet of a shot by Almiron prevented Newcastle doubling their lead in the 35th minute. Allison’s reaction save was followed by not one but to attempts to clear the ball as he forced the ball wide for a corner.
 
By now Newcastle were in complete control and that control continued into the second half and the game should have been out of Liverpool’s reach when Almiron saw a fine shot hit the inside of the post and rebound out, another effort clearing the bar.
 
Substitute Harvey Barnes, on for the ever-dangerous Gordon then broke clear but hit his shot straight at Allison when a simple side pass to Callum Wilson would have presented the England International with a simple tap in from 10 yards.
 
Liverpool had shown very little in the previous 77 minutes but the introduction of Nunes and the withdrawal of Salah into a deeper role proved to be Newcastle’s undoing and when he slotted in his second goal in the dying minutes the smash and grab was complete.
 
Not taking your chances proved to be Newcastle’s downfall and then need to be more clinical with their finishing if they are to capitalise on the flowing fluid football that they produce, especially at home.
 

 
Both Eddie Howe and Jurgen Klopp addressed the press on Friday their respective press conferences ahead of the game on Sunday.
 
Here is a brief overview of what they both had to say, starting with Eddie Howe.
 
Asked about Bruno and his responses to some of the social media criticism that was aimed in his direction Howe responded, “Bruno is a very emotional person. You've seen it on the pitch and it's such a positive for us. He's used it brilliantly for us to build a feeling with the supporters. They see how much it means to him. He's used that so well. Maybe it's a little lesson for him”.
 
Speaking at his press conference Eddie Howe talked about the arrival of Lewis Hall and what attracted him about the teenager. Howe said Versatility was one of the many attributes that the player has. Hall may be regarded by many as a left back, but he can also operate as both an attacking and holding midfielder as well as a recognised left back or wing back.
 
On injuries Howe stated that Joelinton had trained in the latter part of the week. So, all being well the Brazilian should be available for selection come Sunday Afternoon.
 
The news also sounded encouraging for Joe Willock according to Howe “He's making good progress. This is probably the strongest he's looked in terms of his hamstring. He had it re-scanned a couple of days ago and the report back was very good, no problems”.
 
Regarding outgoings it looks like Ryan Fraser could be heading back to the south coast, this time linking up with Southampton. 
And when asked about Manquillo the possibility of the player departing for pastures new before the window shuts, the response from Howe was “Possibly. It depends on what he wants. I'm trying to build the squad as deep as I can for the robust season that we have ahead. After the international break we have a really intense period of games. I'd like him to stay but it's in his hands”.
 
Regarding the game itself Howe responded with the same feelings that most supporters have when this fixture comes around, saying “These games are iconic - Newcastle vs Liverpool battles. Last year we were disappointed with the two defeats. The last minute of that Anfield game has replayed in my mind many times. The game at home was also painful in a different way. It was a day we didn't start very well but we played well with ten men”.
 
As is often the case with these pre match press conferences Howe was asked about his relationship the opposition manager; in this case with Jurgen Klopp. 
 
Howe’s response was quite forthright “I don’t really have a relationship with any manager, I’m competing against them. I find it very difficult to have personal relationships with competitors.
I’ve been the same as a player, I wouldn’t talk before the game to people I knew on the other team, I just draw a line. That’s just how I’ve always been. I respect Jurgen a lot, I think he’s done an unbelievable job, he’s an unbelievable manager, but I draw the line at friendships because they don’t exist for me against competitors”
 
Howe also took the time to speak about Alexander Isak, saying “He's well on the way [to reaching his potential]. There's always more room for improvement but Alex has shown his ability here consistently. Really good goal tally and I hope that continues at the pace it has. His all-round game has improved”.
 
Jurgen Klopp meanwhile addressed his latest bugbear, the Saudi Pro League at his morning press conference.
“It's not cool for us, that's how it is. If we go and want a player from e.g., Wigan, we go there, and they tell us the price and we pay it probably. Bundesliga is like that if Bayern or Dortmund come.
That's the way it goes. Now there is a next level, it's not great. This is kind of the business.
What makes it not possible to deal with anymore is if our transfer window stops and their transfer window stays open.
The authorities should make clear if you want to be part of the system, then do your business at the same time as all the others at least.
I'm pretty sure FIFA could do it like this (clicks fingers), but I'm not sure they want to”.
 
Klopp’s angst towards the ownership of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF has been well documented and is undoubtedly due to the fact that Saudi club Al Ittihad have reportedly lined up a bid to take Mohamed Salah to the Jeddah based club to join recent signings Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and former Anfield teammate Fabinho.
This is despite over £50m being injected into his club following the recent sale of Jordan Henderson and the aforementioned Fabinho to Al-Ettifaq and Al-Ittihad respectively.
 
On the salah situation Klopp merely said “Mo is '100 percent' committed to LFC”
 
On the game Klopp was a little more open
“Newcastle is a very strong team, qualified for the Champions League, fully deserved. 
Super developed under Eddie Howe, super business.
Super intense style, a massive atmosphere there”.
 
Asked about his latest acquisition Wataru Endo Klopp went into his own version Mourinho mode stating “Still early days but on top of that, after half a session playing in a team who has to defend with 10 men pretty much is really difficult. I think he did exceptionally well for that. 
We have him here for three sessions now this week, looks good. He is a good player, but I really think that if it were that easy to bring someone in in the centre of the park, why do we train the others so long?”
 
Postscript: Endo has been bought as a defensive midfielder!

Its another sell out on Sunday afternoon as Jurgen Klopp brings his Liverpool squad to a packed St James’ Park in a fixture that always excites. Kick off is 4:30pm and is live on Sky Sports
 
For many supporters it seems hard to believe that it was 52 years ago that a legend was born on Tyneside when Malcolm MacDonald scored a memorable hattrick on his home debut as the magpies triumphed 3:2. The transfer fee was a record breaking £180,000 for the club.
 
Move on those 52 years and the two clubs have collectively completed over £320m in transfer activity during the close season, with the most expensive purchase being Liverpool’s acquisition of Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig for £70m. Other additions to the Liverpool squad are Alexis MacAllister from Brighton for £42m and Wataru Endo, who joined from Stuttgart for a reported £19m. 
 
Klopp also failed with bids totalling around £200m for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, Southampton’s Romeo Lavia who both subsequently joined Chelsea, and Fluminense midfielder Andre. This came despite his bleating that Liverpool cannot compete in the transfer market against the so-called Gulf Elite. It also follows Liverpool bringing in over £50m in transfer fees following the sale of Fabinho and Henderson to clubs in the Saudi League. 
 
Klopp is simply playing to the gallery and there is no doubt that he will be attempting to burn that Saudi money plus more with further acquisitions before the transfer window closes on 1st of September. 
 
Newcastle meanwhile acquired Harvey Barnes from Leicester, Tino Livramento from Southampton, Lewis Hall on loan from Chelsea and of course Sandro Tonali from Inter Milan
They also dipped into the market for Yankuba Minteh, an 18-year-old Gambian striker from Danish side Odense Boldklub before sending him on a season long loan with Feyenoord.
 
Liverpool got back on track last weekend with a relatively comfortable home win against Bournemouth, following what can only described as a lacklustre performance against Chelsea in their opening league fixture of the season; the clubs playing out a 1:1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
 
Newcastle Utd meanwhile will be hoping to show no ill-effects from their recent defeat at League champions Manchester City. 
 
That defeat seems to have been met with mixed emotions on Tyneside but perhaps the less said about that the better!
 
Despite his sending off on Saturday, Liverpool will have MacAllister available for selection as his red card has been overruled on appeal.
 
Liverpool may have a slight injury doubt over Trent Alexander Arnold who hobbled off after 75 minutes against Bournemouth, but Klopp will be hopeful that the injury will not keep him side-lined. Indeed, both Alexander Arnold and Luis Diaz were both reported to be doing light training earlier in the week.
 
Eddie Howe meanwhile will be assessing the fitness of Joelinton, who hobbled off on Saturday evening to be replaced by Sean Longstaff. Fabien Schar was also in the wars but the fact that he saw out the full 90 minutes after a heavy fall that required extensive on-pitch examination in only the first minute of the game suggests that there will be no concerns regarding the Swiss International’s availability this weekend.
 
The match Referee is John Brooks, and he will be assisted by Lee Betts and Akil Howson on flag duty. The Fourth official is Craig Pawson and this week’s lottery selection on VAR was won (or lost depending upon your persuasion) by Stuart Attwell and Constantine Hatzidakis.
 
The selection of Hatzidakis is an interest one, given that he was VAR assistant to Paul Tierney on Saturday when they gave a straight red card to MacAllister which was subsequently overruled on appeal. 
 
Hatzidakis was also the assistant referee whose elbow connected with Andy Robertson’s head as he was leaving the pitch at half-time during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal back in April.
 
Howay The Lads
 

Newcastle United went into this fixture with an added spring of anticipation but the bounce didn’t last long as Julian Alvarez's brilliant strike on 31 minutes proved to be the decisive goal to maintain City's winning start season.
 
The combination of Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes that was so successful against Aston Villa struggled to get a hold in the midfield where the presence of Rodri and Kovacic proved an affective barrier that allowed Phil Foden the freedom to exploit space and break the Newcastle midfield line at will.
 
In Foden City possess a player of exceptional talent and his grip on the game was sublime. His passing, his ability to find and make space, his movement and all-round exceptional skills were something special to witness and City don’t need to worry about the long-term absence of De Bruyne when they have a player of Foden’s ability able to step in and control the pace of a game with such ease.
 
Defensively Fabien Schar and in particular Sven Botman put in a sterling shift to combat the threat of goal machine Erling Haarland. Not many defenders can say that they have nullified the Norwegian over 90 minutes at the Etihad, but Botman has now succeeded twice in achieving what some would see as the impossible!
 
But it was in the final third where Eddie Howe's side were really lacking – which was surprising having scored five goals in their previous outing.
 
The searing facts are that we did not manage a shot on target until the 70th minute, when Harvey Barnes, who came on for an ever more frustrated Anthony Gordon, tested Ederson with a shot from long range.  
 
Alexander Isak was an isolated figure and his withdrawal on 66 minutes came as no surprise His replacement Callum Wilson wasted an opportunity to capitalise on a poor pass by Rodri the move proved to be one of only a handful of efforts with the resulting shot by Barnes being comfortably saved by Ederson in the city goal.
 
Speaking to the press after the game Howe said of his team’s first half performance "I was angry because I had not seen exactly what I wanted to see. Sometimes that emotion you feel is a real positive if you can express it in the right way."
 
And while you can’t disagree with Howe’s assertion, the facts were that Newcastle were second best in most areas. 
 
However, on the plus side they were facing the treble winners and a coach in Guardiola who on Wednesday night secured his sides 15th trophy in six seasons with City as they added the UEFA Super Cup to their haul of silverware. 

Newcastle United head to the Etihad on Saturday evening on another tv driven excursion this time featuring an 8pm ko. 
 
The game is being televised live by TNT Sports and for those who are not aware of the machinations of the summer’s media merry-go-round, TNT Sports are the rebranded BT Sports.
 
Why an established broadcaster thinks a Saturday evening kick off at 8pm is a good thing for the game is beyond even the most fervent armchair supporter (unless of course you are watching from over the pond!) but for the travelling supporter it is yet another slap down. 
And if the officials continue to with their stop the watch campaign to deter so called time wasting what chance the ball is still in play when Match of The Day goes to Air.
 
Incidentally, the last train out of Manchester Piccadilly to Newcastle departs during half time
 
Added to the travel problems comes news that entry into the Etihad for away supporters is going to be problematic for some due to some idiot deciding that a random number of tickets have been selected for rejection at the turnstiles, requiring the bearer to go to a temporary ticket office to present ID to certify that they are indeed the person that the club allocated the ticket to when purchased.
 
This means that every away fan must travel with a form of photo ID and if their ID does not match that of the name registered on the Newcastle Utd ticketing database when the ticket was issue, they will be denied entry.
 
The club has stated it “is taking this step to ensure fairness to all supporters who purchase tickets through its established loyalty points system and to prevent potential ticket touting.”
 
The words that come to mind include draconian, totalitarian, unnecessary and, a sledge hammer to crack a nut! 
 
Back to the game and Newcastle arrive at the Etihad with no fresh injury worries and a clear week of training behind the, while Pep Guardiola’s squad have been away participating in the UEFA Super Cup against Spanish outfit Seville in Athens; triumphing 5:4 in a penalty shoot-out after the teams finished level at 1:1 after 90 minutes.
 
Joe Willock and Emil Krafth remain sidelined for Newcastle while City will be without Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones and a doubt hangs over the availability of Ruben Dias.
 
At his pre match press conference Eddie Howe described the fixture as "an opportunity for us to be at our best".
 
Asked about the decision he has regarding who to select to lead the line Howe concentrated his towards towards Callum Wilson; the player he left out from last Saturday’s starting 11. 
 
Describing the situation as “very difficult” Howe continued; ‘I think that was one of those calls that I didn’t look forward to making out of my love for Callum. My relationship with him is very strong. I’ve known him a long, long time and he’s been outstanding for me as a manager, from the start of our journey together to now.
“I respect him so to make those calls, when you have to disappoint someone you love, is very difficult but I had to do what I had to do for the team and make a call between one of those two players. Fortunately, the good thing is Alex performed really well and so did Callum when he came on the pitch.
“They both scored, I’m sure they would have both gone home happy to have got off the mark for the season. I think as a striker, you want that first goal as quickly as possible.
 
“You have to take a longer-term vision of our season. We have games coming up during the months of September and especially Christmas when there’s games all over the place. We’re not going to have a problem giving players opportunities. We need to keep rotating the team to keep everyone fresh.”
 
Pep Guardiola meanwhile was his usual sharp self at his afternoon press conference after previously being critical of the Premier League’s decision to schedule the game so soon after their Super Cup fixture.
When asked directly about his teams preparedness Guardiola replied, “Of course we are ready. We need these type of challenges. We face difficulties with the injuries we have, the calendar. This is the challenge we have to take a step forward. We need that. That is what it is”.
 
On Newcastle United as were title contenders Guardiola stated “If they handle the competitions this season, the Champions League, the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the Premier League. If they handle it well they can compete but it’s completely different when you play one game a week or four games a week but if they are able to handle it, of course they are contenders”.
 
 
 
 

​Newcastle United got their season off in sensational style on Saturday evening with a five-star performance that opponents Aston Villa simply had no answers to.
 
Manager Eddie Howe gave a debut to new signing Sandro Tonali, and it took the Italian international only six minutes to repay Howe’s decision when he arrived late into the box to connect with Anthony Gordon’s cross to put his new team one nil up.
 
Newcastle had started off like the proverbial rocket and if the first five minutes was anything to go by, the packed house inside St James’ Park must have sensed that they were in for an entertaining afternoon.
 
Villa had other ideas however and it was another Debutant in Moussa Diaby who grabbed their equaliser on 11 minutes when some poor defending allowed the £52m signing from Bayer Leverkusen to hammer home from 12 yards.
 
On 16 minutes the Magpies were back in front courtesy of Alexander Isak; sliding onto a cut back from Sven Botman to find the back of the net after latching onto a Kieran Trippier free kick
 
The pace of the game didn’t let up and the crowd were certainly being entertained. However, there was an enforced break in proceedings midway through the first half when Villa defender Tyrone Mings went down following a tussle with Isak. After extensive assement by the Villa medical staff the defender left the pitch on a stretcher to be replaced by another debutant in Pau Torres.
 
At the restart the Magpies continued to dominate, and Villa KEEPER Emilio Martinez was lucky to receive only a yellow card from Referee Andy Madley when he raced out of his box and dragged down Miguel Almiron. On another day it could easily have been a red
 
On the 58th minute Isak got his second with a deft little chip past the onrushing Martinez before he was withdrawn and replaced by Callum Wilson who opened his account on 77 minutes and could have got a second, but for the outstretched leg of villain of the day Martinez.
 
Harvey Barnes rounded off the day with a debut goal of his own in time added on with his own neat finish.
 
There were so many highlight performances for the fans to talk about as they filed out of St James’s Park to continue the celebrations in traditional Geordie fashion. Two goals from Isak, Tonali’s debut goal, his varied passing ability, and his calm demeanour on the ball. His link up play with the athletic Joelinton and the rejuvenated Bruno Guimaraes in midfield showed all the hallmarks of what could be an exciting midfield grouping.
 
But it was Anthony Gordon who proved the big talking point as he brought his player of the tournament form from this summer’s European Under 21 championships into this season opener and showed exactly why Eddie Howe pushed the Newcastle board to invest £40m for his services in last season’s January transfer window.
 
Gordon proved a constant problem for the Villa defence who were forced into some robust and physical challenges in an effort to nullify his play, but the youngster never gave up and showed all the attributes to becoming a fan favourite on Tyneside. 
 
Next game August 19th Manchester City (A) ko 8pm