Newcastle United v Bayer Leverkusen: Starting lineups confirmed for St. James’ Park friendly

Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen will meet in a pre-season friendly at St. James’ Park in Newcastle on Saturday, August 15, 2026, with both clubs confirming their starting lineups ahead of kick-off.

Newcastle's recent pre-season results include a 3-0 victory over Darlington FC, a 1-1 draw with Gateshead, a 4-1 win against Bristol City and a 2-1 victory over Valencia, before a 3-1 defeat to Everton in their last outing. The Magpies will treat the fixture as a chance to fine-tune their new-look squad under head coach Matthias Jaissle. Bayer Leverkusen produced wins over SF Baumberg (7-0), Kickers Offenbach (3-1), Genk (4-0) and Rot-Weiss Essen (3-0), followed by a 2-1 victory over Sevilla and a 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest in their final pre-season match.

Starting XI: Lukas Hornicek; Lewis Miley, Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall; Mason Miley, Sean Steur; Anthony Elanga, Nick Woltemade, Harvey Barnes; Yoanne Wissa. Bench: Aidan Harris (gk), Dylan Charlton, Miodrag Pivas, Trevan Sanusi, Henry Johnson, Rory Finneran, Sean Neave. Today's team to take on Bayer Leverkusen in the @VisitMalta Weekender 👊 pic.twitter.com/ZfRvucBXSq

Starting XI: Mark Flekken; Arthur Vermeeren, Loic Bade, Edmond Tapsoba, Miguel Gutierrez; Equi Fernandez; Malik Tillman, Ibrahim Maza; Aleix Garcia, Afonso Moreira; Christian Kofane. Bench: Janis Blaswich (gk), Niklas Lomb (gk), Jonas Hofmann, Martin Terrier, Patrik Schick, Tim Oermann, Axel Tape, Ernest Poku, Lucas Vazquez, Victor Boniface, Nathan Tella, Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, Kenan Doganay, Ben Hawighorst, Jeanuel Belocian. Your Lev line-up to face @NUFC! ⚫🔴 pic.twitter.com/b4176aUeik

In India the match will kick off at 7:30 PM IST, and Khel Now has offered live updates across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, plus Android and iOS apps and communities on Whatsapp and Telegram for followers.

Sushruta has spent over two years covering football, with a particular focus on Indian and international competitions. Alongside football, he has reported on a variety of sports, bringing curiosity and perspective to every story. When he’s not following the action, he can usually be found binge-watching movies or getting lost in a good book.

Newcastle will begin their Premier League 2026-27 campaign against Liverpool on August 23.