Iraola's Liverpool salvage draw at Newcastle but must address defensive frailties

On the opening weekend of the Premier League season, Andoni Iraola began his tenure as Liverpool manager not with a statement of intent but with a question mark — rescued by Dominik Szoboszlai's 99th-minute penalty at St James' Park, the club preserved a fragile unbeaten record while revealing the structural vulnerabilities that will define the weeks ahead. A draw earned through resilience rather than dominance, it is the kind of result that tells a new manager more about his inheritance than any pre-season fixture ever could.