Iraola begins Liverpool reign with 4-2 win over Sunderland, but Gomez injury deepens defensive woes

Iraola's winning start

Andoni Iraola's first match in charge of Liverpool ended with a 4-2 victory over Sunderland in a pre-season friendly at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Kieran Morrison, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas all scored for the Premier League side, offering a glimpse of attacking depth even as the new manager acknowledged his squad's physical condition after a heavy training week.

“A lot of things to correct, obviously, it's the first day. You could feel the heavy legs, the players have been training. So, we lacked some freshness. But it will give us a good starting point to improve things.”

Gomez injury mars the occasion

The victory was overshadowed when Joe Gomez, who started at centre-back and wore the captain's armband, went down injured after only eight minutes and was substituted. Gomez, 29 and Liverpool's longest-serving player, is a key figure in a defensive unit already stretched thin. Iraola expressed his dismay.

“Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe. We were happy because we were kind of going through all the training without losing any player. Unluckily for us, straight away we've lost Joe.”

Defensive shortages exposed

With Virgil van Dijk still absent following the Netherlands' World Cup campaign, Liverpool fielded two 18-year-olds, Mor Talla N'diaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, from the start. The pair held their own until being withdrawn in the 68th minute, but neither is expected to feature regularly once the season begins. Another teenage centre-back, 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni, is still working back from a severe ACL tear. Iraola had described his defensive resources as "very thin" before the injury, and sporting director Richard Hughes, watching from the stands, is now under added pressure to reinforce the squad.

Jacquet and the road ahead

Jeremy Jacquet, a summer signing from France who missed much of last season with a shoulder injury, did not take part in this opening friendly. Iraola plans to ease him back.

“He has been a lot of months without playing with a shoulder injury. So, I think we are going to take it easy with him. He will play probably the last game of this U.S. tour and he will have time to have minutes.”

What comes next

Liverpool continue their U.S. tour with friendlies against Wrexham, Leeds United, AS Monaco and Como. These matches will offer Iraola further opportunities to assess his squad before the Premier League campaign begins away to Newcastle on August 23. The immediate priority, though, remains sorting out a defence that is suddenly down to bare bones.