Andoni Iraola began his Liverpool tenure with a 4-2 pre-season victory over Sunderland in Nashville, but the win was overshadowed by an early injury to Joe Gomez. The defender hobbled off after just seven minutes, compounding an already pressing defensive crisis for the new manager.
Gomez, Liverpool’s longest-serving player, required treatment on the pitch before being replaced by 18-year-old Ifeanyi Ndukwe. His setback adds to a growing injury list that includes centre-backs Jeremy Jacquet, who is not match fit after a shoulder injury, and Giovanni Leoni, who is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. With Virgil van Dijk yet to report for pre-season, Iraola currently has no fully fit senior centre-back available.
“Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe,” Iraola said. “We were happy because we were going through all the training without losing any player. Unluckily for us, straight away we’ve lost Joe.” The injury may force the club back into the transfer market, with free agent John Stones touted as a potential option.
On the pitch, there were positives for the new boss as Dominik Szoboszlai, Kieran Morrison, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas all found the net. Timur Tutierov and Enzo Le Fee replied for Sunderland. “It was difficult to put rhythm into the game,” Iraola added. “We lacked a little bit of intensity. You could feel the heavy legs. It will give us a good starting point to improve things.”
