Newcastle pit their wits against Premier League newcomers Southampton in this opening fixture of the new season at St. James' Park. 

Hosts Newcastle reached seventh position last term, a finish some fans will have seen as a disappointment, underlining how much manager Eddie Howe has raised expectations on Tyneside since taking over the job less than three years ago. 

Unlike last season, the Magpies don't have the distraction of European football this year and are unlikely to suffer the same horrendous bad luck they as had last year with injuries -- meaning a push for the top four looks well within their grasp this time out.

They come up against a Southampton side today that are still likely feeling the afterglow of their playoff final victory over Leeds back in May, which ensured their return to English football's top flight. Manager Russell Martin has made some shrewd additions to his squad, such as Japanese defender Yukinari Sugawara from AZ Alkmaar and the underrated Flynn Downes from West Ham, but today's game at a packed St. James' Park will underline the tough task ahead as they look to avoid heading straight back to the Championship.

Newcastle host Southampton on Saturday, Aug. 17, at St. James' Park, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. BST local time, making it a 10 a.m. ET or 7 a.m. PT start in the US and Canada and a 12 a.m. AEST kickoff in the early hours of Sunday in Australia.

Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game as it happens, wherever you are in the world.

Swedish striker Alexander Isak was Newcastle's top scorer last season, with 21 goals in the Premier League.  James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images How to watch Newcastle vs. Southampton in the US without cable

Saturday's Newcastle vs. Southampton match is streaming on Peacock. You'll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live. 

How to watch the Premier League 2024/25 season from anywhere with a VPN

If you find yourself unable to view English Premier League matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. 

With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this. 

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions. 

Can I livestream Newcastle vs. Southampton in the UK?

No broadcaster has the rights to show this game live in the UK, due to the traditional Saturday 3 p.m. kickoff blackout, which prohibits matches being shown in the region at that time in order to protect attendances throughout the English football pyramid. 

That also means that if you're in the UK traveling for pleasure or for work, you're unlikely to be able to watch the game like you normally would at home, thanks to geo-blocking. 

There's one option to get around this, however. By using a VPN, as explained above, you can set your location to a country where the match is being broadcast and go from there.

Livestream Newcastle vs. Southampton in Canada

If you want to stream this EPL game live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. Once again, the service has exclusive rights to every Premier League fixture this season.

Livestream Newcastle vs. Southampton in Australia

Football fans Down Under can watch EPL matches live on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League fixture of the 2024/25 season live in Australia.

Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN  With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- your experience and success when streaming EPL matches may vary.If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location. And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.