Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola could be shorn of an entire starting line-up’s worth of players for the beginning of their pre-season and their late July tour to the United States.
The Reds will play three matches on Stateside towards the end of next month and into August as they take on Sunderland (25 July, Nashville), Wrexham (30 July, New York) and Leeds (2 August, Chicago) before returning to Merseyside for home friendlies against Monaco and Como.
However, it now seems likely that a number of first-team regulars won’t be involved for at least the earlier portion of that run of pre-season fixtures.
As explained by Ian Doyle for the Liverpool Echo, Iraola’s squad are expected to reconvene at the AXA Training Centre on Monday 13 July, with anyone involved at the World Cup returning at a slightly later date – club policy is usually to allow for three weeks off after the conclusion of their involvement at a major international tournament.
All eight Reds players at the finals in North America are either guaranteed or likely to still be involved in the round of 32, which’ll be run off between Sunday and Friday of next week, and it’s highly probable that a few of their nations will progress beyond that phase of the competition.
It means that they almost certainly won’t be on Liverpool’s pre-season tour to the U.S., on top of three long-term injury absentees in Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni, although the latter is steadily getting closer to a long-awaited return.
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In total, it means that Iraola will probably be without 11 senior players for his first match as LFC head coach against Sunderland a month from today. It isn’t his first official game in the job – that’ll come against Newcastle on 23 August – but it’s his first matchday experience with the Reds.
It isn’t the most ideal scenario for the new boss, as it’ll reduce the amount of time that he’ll have with some of his main players before the Premier League season begins, but it also opens a window of opportunity for others to stake a claim for inclusion once the competitive action is underway.
Rio Ngumoha will be yearning to build upon his excellent first campaign in senior football, while Federico Chiesa will want to show that he can be an asset to Iraola, having been largely overlooked by Arne Slot for the past two years.
Youngsters like Trey Nyoni, Kieran Morrison, Armin Pecsi and Luke Chambers might all view it as the perfect chance to make a good first impression on the Spaniard, even if it currently seems more likely that they’ll go out on loan towards the end of the summer.
Of course, Liverpool fans will also be keeping an eye out for any new signings in the meantime who – depending on the extent of their World Cup involvement – might be available for the American tour or would link with the squad thereafter.
With only a month to go until Iraola’s first matchday as Reds boss, the 2026/27 season is slowly but surely making its way into view.
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