Liverpool's three game tour of the United States kicks off with a clash against Sunderland tonight, which will be both Andoni Iraola and Jérémy Jacquet's first match for Liverpool.
Pre-Season Matchday One
Liverpool are all set to take on Sunderland tonight to kick off their pre-season tour. Fans will be taking a very close look at who Andoni Iraola selects for his first-ever match as Liverpool boss, and will be keen to see what early changes are already visible in the Reds' style of play.
Who is Available for Liverpool?
Liverpool remain without Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Giovanni Leoni (ACL), and Conor Bradley (knee), due to long-term injury. Wataru Endo and Stefan Bajčetić
are closer to a return but unlikely to take part in this opening game.
Meanwhile, eight Liverpool players remain on their holidays after the World Cup: Alexis Mac Allister, Víctor Muñoz, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Cody Gakpo, Aleksander Isak, and Ryan Gravenberch.
That doesn't mean Iraola lacks quality to call upon, however. Take a look at our predicted starting line-up for tonight's match:
Giorgi Mamardashvili, Milos Kerkez, Jérémy Jacquet, Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong, Trey Nyoni, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Harvey Elliott, Rio Ngumoha, and Federico Chiesa.
Sunderland
Sunderland have brought a 26-man squad on tour, with striker Wilson Isidor recently linking back up with the team following his own post-World Cup break. There will likely be plenty of familiar names lining up for the Black Cats this evening, including their higher-profile players such as Reinildo, Nordi Mukiele, and Enzo Le Fee.
How to Watch
The match is taking place at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee, at 11 pm BST. You can watch live from the United Kingdom on ALL RED VIDEO.
One to Watch: Jérémy Jacquet
If all goes according to plan, Jérémy Jacquet will be making his Liverpool debut tonight. Many will have a close eye on the prodigious French defender as they try to gauge his capabilities as Ibrahima Konaté's replacement.
Jacquet is particularly known for being a ball-playing defender, so that is definitely an aspect of his game to look out for if and when he first plays for Liverpool.
Billy Hogan: "We're so excited to bring Liverpool to the USA again"
Liverpool's CEO, Billy Hogan, has spoken about Liverpool's pre-season tour taking place in America. He explained "It’s great to be back in the US, obviously it’s an opportunity for us to bring the club to see our supporters and so we’re looking forward to being here and excited to be back".
Absolutely. It’s kind of our responsibility as one of the biggest clubs in the world to bring the club out to our supporters, and that’s a big part of why we come on tour. But as you said, this is the pre-season and make no mistake about it, this is about putting the foundations in place for the long season ahead, as Andoni said.
Hogan also revealed that Liverpool have been training at Chicago Fire FC's brand-new training centre. The MLS club might sound familiar to any die-hard Reds supporter as it was the team of former-player Xherdan Shaqiri from 2022-2024. The Fire's latest marquee signing is non-other than legendary Bayern Munich and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.
The Journey Towards Competitive Action Begins
Tonight's clash against Sunderland marks the start of Liverpool's road to competitive action once again. A good pre-season will be critical for Andoni Iraola's chances of a strong start as the new Liverpool Head Coach. Although, it would probably be prudent for supporters not to read too much into results as the Basque manager begins to implement a style of play much different to what fans have been used to under the management of Arne Slot.
