# Victor Muñoz or Rio Ngumoha? One of them could start against Newcastle… but who deserves the RW spot? 🔴🤔
There is a particular kind of headache that only comes from having too much talent in one area of the pitch, and as Liverpool prepare to open the 2026/27 Premier League season away at Newcastle, Andoni Iraola finds himself with exactly that problem on the right flank. Mohamed Salah’s departure left a hole that no single player can realistically fill, and rather than going out and signing a like-for-like replacement, the Reds spent the summer bringing in Victor Muñoz from Osasuna, hijacking a deal that Newcastle themselves thought was as good as done. That transfer saga alone tells you something about how highly regarded the Spaniard is, but it also means Iraola now has to figure out where exactly to fit him in, at the same time as a seventeen-year-old academy graduate is doing everything humanly possible to make that decision as difficult as it can be. Rio Ngumoha has spent pre-season turning heads in the United States, scoring winners, terrorising full-backs, and generally behaving like a young man who has no intention of making way for a marquee signing, however much that signing cost. So here we are, on the eve of a genuinely fascinating Premier League opener, trying to work out who should be picked to succeed the greatest widthedplayer this club has had in the Premier League era on the right-hand side of the attack.
Let’s start with Muñoz, because he is the more straightforward story on paper even if his best position is not. Liverpool paid his £34.5m release clause this summer, snatching him from under Newcastle’s nose in a transfer saga that generated no shortage of headlines given the context. He arrives having just enjoyed a breakout campaign at Osasuna, where he racked up seven goals and five assists in La Liga and did enough to force his way into Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, even if a frustrating calf and muscle injury denied him the chance to actually play a part in the tournament itself. Everything about his profile screams directness. He is short, quick off the mark, has a low centre of gravity, and runs at defenders in a manner that plenty of good judges have compared to peak Diogo Jota, someone Liverpool supporters will always associate with fearless, positive running in behind. He is naturally right-footed but has spent almost his entire career playing on the left, cutting inside off that flank in the modern inverted-winger mould, though his time at Osasuna also saw him used on the right and even through the middle on occasion, so there is genuine, if limited, evidence that the transition is not completely alien to him.
What makes Muñoz’s situation slightly complicated is that Liverpool did not sign him to be a specialist right winger in the first place. Every indication from his career at Real Madrid’s academy, at Osasuna, and now in pre-season for Liverpool is that his most natural and comfortable position is out on the left, cutting in onto that favoured right foot. Iraola started him there in his Anfield debut against Monaco and did exactly the same again in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Como, which tells its own story about where the head coach currently sees him fitting into the shape. The obvious complication is that Cody Gakpo already occupies that left-sided slot, and reports throughout August suggested Gakpo was the frontrunner to start there against Newcastle regardless of Muñoz’s arrival, with the Dutchman impressing in the same pre-season friendlies. If Gakpo keeps his place on the left, and Liverpool are simultaneously chasing a deal for Bradley Barcola to add even more depth out wide, then Muñoz’s route into the strongest possible XI may well run through the right flank whether it is his ideal terrain or not. There is also a school of thought, voiced by pundits like Emile Heskey among others, that once he settles and Iraola trusts him with more central and right-sided reps, his directness and dribbling could translate into exactly the kind of one-versus-one menace Liverpool have missed since Salah left, even if the early signs point to him settling in as more of an impact option from the bench for the Newcastle game specifically.
Then there is Ngumoha, and it is genuinely hard to overstate how good his pre-season has been. This is a player who, at sixteen years old last August, came off the bench at St James’ Park and scored a stoppage-time winner that instantly made him a cult hero on the Kop, becoming Liverpool’s youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer in the process. He spent the rest of last season being used sparingly by Arne Slot, mostly in cameo appearances, with just 29 total appearances and largely fleeting minutes, the kind of usage pattern that always sparked debate among supporters about whether the club were being too cautious with a generational talent or sensibly protecting a still-developing teenager from being overexposed. Whatever the rationale, that caution appears to have been thrown out with the arrival of Iraola. Given a genuinely expanded role throughout the pre-season tour of the United States, Ngumoha scored the winning goal against Wrexham in New York, was directly involved from the right-hand side rather than his more natural left, and by most independent assessments was Liverpool’s standout performer of the summer. He even earned his senior England debut in the buildup to the World Cup, again featuring on the right, which suggests Thomas Tuchel sees something in that positional flexibility too.
The interesting wrinkle here is that, much like Muñoz, Ngumoha is not naturally a right winger either. He is right-footed but has always played predominantly on the left, where he can cut inside, drive at defenders, and shoot with his stronger foot, the exact same profile that makes plenty of modern wingers so effective from that flank. Former Liverpool players and pundits, including Emile Heskey and Glen Johnson, have both made a version of the same point this summer: that Ngumoha’s instincts are currently wired for the left, and that shifting him to the right requires a genuine adjustment in thought process, timing, and body shape, even for someone with as much natural talent as he clearly possesses. Johnson in particular has backed him to make that switch look seamless and has tipped this as a genuine breakout campaign for the teenager, specifically because he thinks Ngumoha is talented enough to adapt to a new role while still learning the professional game more broadly. It is a big ask for a seventeen-year-old, but so far in preseason he has answered every question put to him, and Iraola has rewarded that with continued opportunities on that unfamiliar side rather than shuffling him back to his comfort zone.
So why, if both players are more naturally suited to the left, does it look like Ngumoha and not Muñoz who gets first crack at Newcastle? Reading through the mood among Liverpool-focused outlets and predicted lineups in the days before kick-off, the consensus has shifted fairly decisively in the teenager’s favour. Several outlets covering the squad’s preparations reported that Gakpo is set to start on the left, which immediately squeezes Muñoz out of his own favoured position, while Ngumoha’s excellent pre-season form, allied with the fact he has already shown he can operate on the right for both club and country, appears to have won over the coaching staff. There is also a simple matter of match sharpness and rhythm. Muñoz missed Liverpool’s entire pre-season tour of the United States because of his involvement, and subsequent recovery from injury, at the World Cup with Spain, only returning to full training relatively recently. Ngumoha, by contrast, has had a full pre-season under his new head coach, has had every opportunity to build an understanding with his midfield and full-back, and looks, in the words of more than one report, “nailed on” to start at St James’ Park as a result. It is the classic story of an established performer’s summer being interrupted by international commitments, only for a younger squad member to seize the moment in his absence and make it very hard to be dropped again.
There is also a broader strategic explanation that Iraola himself has more or less spelled out since taking over. He has been explicit in press conferences about wanting a Liverpool team that presses aggressively, works hard without the ball, and plays with real intensity, and he has specifically praised Muñoz’s directness and pressing instincts as reasons he pushed to sign him. But intensity and defensive work rate cut both ways in this debate, because Ngumoha’s dribbling, closing-down, and willingness to track back have also been repeatedly highlighted as reasons he suits the demands of a high-press system, even at his tender age. If anything, the profiles of the two players are not as far apart as their transfer fees might suggest. Both are naturally left-footed-in-mentality wide players who are quick, direct, love to run in behind or cut inside, and are being asked to do it from the “wrong” side of the pitch for the good of the team. The difference right now is essentially readiness: one has had a full pre-season to adjust to Iraola’s demands and the unfamiliar side of the pitch, while the other is only just walking back through the door.
It is worth remembering, too, that this Newcastle game is not necessarily a permanent verdict on Liverpool’s long-term right-wing plans. Iraola has been careful in interviews not to nail his colours to one system or one solution, and there is at least one alternative being floated by sections of the media that would sidestep the Muñoz-versus-Ngumoha debate entirely: shifting Dominik Szoboszlai out to the right, a role he performed under Slot last winter with a fair degree of success, and dropping Alexis Mac Allister deeper into midfield instead. That option seems to have lost some momentum given Mac Allister’s light pre-season minutes following Argentina’s World Cup run, but it is a reminder that Iraola has more than two names to consider when he finally writes out his team sheet, even if the headline duel remains between the new Spanish signing and the academy graduate who refuses to be written out of the conversation.
From a purely footballing perspective, there is a reasonable case that starting Ngumoha is the lower-risk, higher-reward option for the opening weekend specifically. Newcastle have had an unusually difficult summer of their own, losing Alexander Isak to Liverpool a year ago and now facing a rebuild under new management after Eddie Howe’s departure, with several key players also leaving the club. A slightly weakened Newcastle side, playing at home in the opening match of the season with a new manager of their own bedding in, is arguably as forgiving an environment as a young winger could hope for to continue his development on an unfamiliar flank, especially with the added incentive of already having a happy history at that exact stadium from last season’s dramatic late winner. Throwing Muñoz into a Premier League away game, at a raucous St James’ Park, in a position he has barely played, having had a genuinely disrupted preparation period, carries a bit more risk of the transition not going smoothly, at least in these first ninety minutes.
That said, there is also a compelling long-term argument for getting Muñoz up to speed on the right as quickly as possible, precisely because Liverpool are still shaping their attacking identity under a new head coach and the sooner their record signing settles into a defined role, the better for squad cohesion over a gruelling forty-plus-game season. There is a version of this debate where patience with Ngumoha, rather than urgency, is actually the wiser long-term strategy: continuing to bring him through gradually, protecting him from the unique pressures of trying to be the direct heir to Mohamed Salah at Anfield, and using Muñoz’s considerably more experienced frame to shoulder that burden from matchday one instead. Seventeen-year-olds, however precocious, are still developing physically and mentally, and there will be tougher, more physical away days later in the season where his lack of experience could be more clearly exposed than it has been against a rotating cast of pre-season opposition. Muñoz, for all that right-wing is unfamiliar territory to him too, is a twenty-three-year-old full international with a World Cup winner’s medal in his back pocket, and that maturity counts for something when the whistle blows for real.
Ultimately, though, football decisions in the here and now tend to be won by form and freshness rather than reputation and price tag, and every signal coming out of Liverpool’s preparations points toward Ngumoha getting the nod at St James’ Park. He has looked sharper, more match-fit, and more instinctively dangerous on the right than Muñoz has managed in his handful of appearances since arriving, and Iraola does not strike anyone as the type of head coach who will hand a start to a big-money signing purely on reputation if a teenager has clearly outperformed him in training and friendlies. The romantic, feel-good angle of Ngumoha starting the season exactly where his legend at this level began twelve months ago, scoring that unforgettable winner on the exact same ground, only adds to the sense that this is his moment to grab rather than Muñoz’s summer to announce himself immediately.
None of this should be read as a definitive verdict that Muñoz is destined for a peripheral role all season. Injuries happen, rotation happens, and a front three built around a young, developing talent will need periodic freshening up over the course of a title challenge, which is precisely the kind of role a versatile, direct, technically excellent attacker like Muñoz is more than capable of filling from matchday two or three onward. It would not be remotely surprising to see him introduced from the bench at Newcastle if the game is stretched open in the second half, using his pace and directness against tiring legs, which is exactly the kind of impact substitution Iraola has already shown a willingness to make in pre-season. Nor would it be a surprise if, in the weeks that follow, the two genuinely rotate the right-wing berth depending on form, opposition, and fitness, rather than one player nailing down the shirt for the entire campaign. Liverpool’s squad depth this season is built precisely to allow for that kind of flexibility across multiple positions.
For now, though, if the question is simply who starts at Newcastle, the evidence leans firmly toward Rio Ngumoha. He has had the fuller pre-season, he has already proven he can perform on the right for both club and country, he has the emotional pull of a player returning to the scene of his most famous moment in a red shirt, and by every account coming out of the training camp, he has been the standout performer of the summer regardless of position. Victor Muñoz remains an enormously exciting long-term addition to this Liverpool squad, and the qualities that persuaded the club to hijack Newcastle’s own move for him in the first place have not gone anywhere, but readiness and rhythm look set to win out over reputation on this particular Sunday afternoon. Whether that verdict holds for the whole season, or simply for round one, is a story Liverpool fans will be watching unfold with real interest as the campaign develops. Either way, having this kind of selection dilemma to debate is a nice problem for Iraola to have, and a nicer one still for supporters who spent last season worrying about exactly how the club would ever replace Mohamed Salah in the first place.