Sunderland plus the 15 Premier League fixtures Newcastle United play before & after Champions League
Sunderland and the 15 Premier League teams Newcastle United face before and after Champions League games.
Newcastle United will be in Champions League action just a few days before taking on bitter rivals Sunderland.
The Magpies’ 2025-26 Premier League fixture list has been released - see that in full here, with Eddie Howe’s side first travelling to the Stadium of Light on Saturday, December 13, while the clash at St James’ Park takes place on Saturday, March 21.
But it isn’t just the Premier League that Newcastle are competing in, at least during the first half of the campaign. Champions League football is back on Tyneside and with that comes added strain on Howe’s squad.
From September to January, three-game weeks before the norm and it just so happens the first top-flight Tyne-Wear derby for nine years falls on one of those weeks. Picture this, Newcastle are away to Real Madrid on the Wednesday and play Sunderland on the Saturday...
But it isn’t just Sunderland the Magpies have, or will, think about. Here, NewcastleWorld takes a look at the Premier League teams Newcastle United face either side of their eight Champions League league phase matches:
Champions League matchday one
September 13: Newcastle United v Wolverhampton Wanderers
September 16–18: Champions League opponent TBC
September 20: AFC Bournemouth v Newcastle United
Champions League matchday two
September 27: Newcastle United v Arsenal
30 September–1 October: Champions League opponent TBC
October 4: Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest
Champions League matchday three
October 18: Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United
October 21-22: Champions League opponent TBC
October 25: Newcastle United v Fulham
Champions League matchday four
November 1: West Ham United v Newcastle United
November 4-5: Champions League opponent TBC
November 8: Brentford v Newcastle United
Champions League matchday five
November 22: Newcastle United v Manchester City
November 25-26: Champions League opponent TBC
November 29: Everton v Newcastle United
Champions League matchday six
December 6: Newcastle United v Burnley
December 9-10: Champions League opponent TBC
December 13 : Sunderland v Newcastle United
Champions League matchday seven
January 17: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United
January 20-21: Champions League opponent TBC
January 24: Newcastle United v Aston Villa
Champions League matchday eight
January 24: Newcastle United v Aston Villa
January 28: Champions League opponent TBC.
January 31: Liverpool v Newcastle United
When does the Champions League league phase draw take place?
The draw for the 2025-26 Champions League league phase takes place on August 28, 2025 with teams ranked in four seeding pots.
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated and do not drop into the Europa League.
The teams finishing between ninth to 24th place compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off. Teams finishing between ninth and 16th are seeded, meaning they will face a team in 17th-24th with the return leg at home.
Which teams could Newcastle United face in the Champions League?
Newcastle will be joined in the Champions League by Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 17th in the Premier League but qualify as the Europa League winners.
Football Rankings have published a projected list of the pots for next season’s competition and similar to two years ago, the Magpies are set to be placed in pot four alongside the likes of Celtic, Red Star Belgrade and Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gillois.
Coefficient rankings are based on historical performance in UEFA competition over the last five seasons. With the Magpies competing in Europe just once - winning a single game - they place bottom out of all 34 clubs.
Newcastle do not even use their own score of 17.386. They rank so low that they must adopt the Premier League’s (22.924) coefficient. Manchester City (137.500) and Liverpool (125.500) will be in pot one, Arsenal (98.000) in pot two and Tottenham Hotspur (70.250) in pot three.
Clubs draw two teams from each category, one home and one away but can’t draw a team from the same country until the knockout phase. The full 36-team line-up will be confirmed following the conclusion of the play-off rounds on August 27.