Liverpool got their preseason off to a fine start, with an entertaining 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday night. The match was of course overshadowed, however, with the loss of defender Joe Gomez to injury. Reportedly, it’s a minor Achilles injury, but it’s substantial enough to end his preseason tour of the United States, as the English international was sent back to Liverpool to work on rehabilitation. Gomez was given in the honor or wearing the captain’s armband on Saturday night.
Manager Andoni Iraold discussed Gomez, as well as the club’s new acquisition at centerback- Jeremy Jacquet.
2026 Liverpool USA Preseason Tour
July 25, Sunderland, Geodis Park, Nashville, TN, 5pm local, 11pm BST
July 29, Wrexham, Yankee Stadium, New York, NY, 7:30 local, 12:30 BST
Aug 2, Leeds United, Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, 3pm local, 9pm BST
Liverpool vs Wrexham AFC FYIs
When: Wed July 29, 7:30pm EST
Liverpool Predicted Starting XI: go here
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, NY
Home of the 27-time World Series champion New York Yankees
Watch: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Liverpool’s streaming service
Andoni Iraola on the importance of the Dominik Szoboszlai to the team: Read more about that here
Liverpool Long-term Injured Updates: Jayden Danns, Wataru Endo, Stefan Bajcetic Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni
Liverpool Team News
“Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe. We were happy because we were going through training without losing any players and unluckily for us we’ve lost Joe straight away,” Iraola said to LFC’s in-house media.
“With Jeremy we decided to take it easy with him. He’s had a lot of months without playing and he’s been training very well but we’re going to take it easy with him,” Iraola added.
Iraola then ruled Jacquet out for the match at Yankee Stadium in midweek, but did say that he should see some minutes next weekend versus Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago:
“He will play probably in the last game of this tour and he will have time to have minutes.”
Iraola also said, in post match media opportunities that Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch are all now in Chicago, the Reds home base for their summer preseason tour of the United States. The trio have now completed their post-World Cup breaks, and they will soon be reintegrated into the squad.
The trio are probably in the same boat as Jacquet- won’t play in midweek, but could see some time off the bench come Sunday.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.