Gomez's injury mars Iarola's Liverpool debut

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola described the injury to Joe Gomez during his team’s friendly victory over Sunderland as the “worst news” at the start of his tenure with the 20-time English Premier League champions.

Iraola oversaw his first match since arriving from Bournemouth, replacing the sacked Dutch coach Arne Slot.

The Spanish manager watched goals from Northern Irishman Kieran Morrison, Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai, Italian Federico Chiesa, and Welshman Lewis Koumas secure a 4-2 win for Liverpool over Sunderland yesterday in the opening match of their tour in Nashville, United States.

However, Gomez, who started the match at center-back and wore the captain’s armband, was forced off the pitch in the eighth minute.

Gomez’s early exit exacerbated Iraola’s defensive problems, as new signing Jeremy Jagielka is still gradually returning from physical issues, while Italian Giovanni Leoni continues his recovery from a long-term absence.

Earlier this week, Iraola stated that his squad “suffers a significant shortage” in the defensive line.

The Spanish coach commented, “Perhaps the worst news was Joe’s injury directly. We were happy because we had gone through almost all training sessions without losing any players. But unfortunately, we lost Joe directly.”

He added, “Regarding Jeremy, we decided to handle him with caution. He spent many months without playing due to a shoulder injury, so I think we will proceed calmly with him. He is likely to feature in the final match of this US tour and will have time to get some playing minutes.”

Despite the injury concerns, Iraola hopes this victory will serve as a foundation to build upon when Liverpool face Rotherham in New York and Leeds in Chicago.

He continued, “There are many things that need to be corrected, of course, as this was the first match. You could notice the heaviness in their legs; the players had been training.”

Virgil van Dijk received additional rest after featuring for the Netherlands at the World Cup.

However, Iraola confirmed that Swede Alexander Isak, German Florian Wirtz, and Dutchman Ryan Gravenberch are in Chicago after completing their rest periods following the World Cup and will soon rejoin the squad.