Andoni Iraola’s first match as Liverpool manager ended in a 4-2 preseason victory over Sunderland in Nashville, but an early injury to Joe Gomez underlined a pressing defensive problem with four weeks left before the Premier League season. Gomez went down after eight minutes, forcing his withdrawal and leaving the squad light at centre back.
Iraola had previously stressed the need to strengthen his squad in the transfer window, saying at his first news conference and again at the club’s Chicago training base that Liverpool required a new winger and remedies for what he described as a “very thin” defence.
New signing Jérémy Jacquet was ruled out before kick-off with what the club deemed a minor issue. Sources told ESPN his absence was precautionary as he builds fitness after missing the second half of last season with a shoulder injury sustained at Rennes. With Jacquet unavailable and Gomez forced off, much of the match saw teenage defenders Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe — both signed this year from Amitié FC and Austria Vienna, respectively — anchoring the back line.
Captain Virgil van Dijk was omitted from Liverpool’s travelling party to the United States because of last season’s heavy workload and is expected to rejoin the squad later in the preseason. Giovanni Leoni, signed from Parma last summer, remains on the comeback trail after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his debut against Southampton in September.
The departure of Ibrahima Konaté on a free transfer to Real Madrid last month removed veteran experience from the defence. Sources told ESPN that signing a centre back was not viewed as a priority after Konaté’s exit, although the club’s stance could be reassessed in light of Gomez’s setback. Both Gomez and van Dijk have one year remaining on their contracts, a fact that further narrows Liverpool’s defensive outlook as the season approaches.
