Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the United States is about to produce the moment that everyone at Anfield has been waiting for.
Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the United States is about to produce the moment that everyone at Anfield has been waiting for.
The friendlies against Sunderland and Wrexham served their purpose — fitness baselines, tactical introductions, and the first glimpses of how Andoni Iraola wants his side to play.
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But the match against Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday carries a different kind of significance entirely.
Three of Liverpool’s most important players are set to make their first appearances of the summer.
The trio arrived at the US training camp later than the rest of the squad, their pre-seasons delayed by international commitments at the World Cup.
Iraola and his coaching staff have been deliberately cautious with their integration, allowing the players time to reach the fitness levels that the rest of the group had already established across the opening two weeks of pre-season work.
Now, speaking to liverpoolfc.com from Chicago, the head coach has confirmed that he intends to give all three their first minutes of the summer against Leeds, with the caveat that their involvement will be carefully managed.
The players are Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak, and Florian Wirtz.
“With Florian, Ryan and Alex, they’ve been the ones arriving late,” Iraola explained.
“I think we’ve been cautious in terms of giving them the time to reach to the level where the others are, because they’ve been training for two weeks before them, but my idea is that the three of them will play the last game against Leeds.”
He added a note of pragmatism about the timeline.
“Probably we’ll have to restrict their minutes.”
“We still have another three weeks before the start of the season where they will play more, we can push them more.”
“But I think we need them to start as soon as possible because sometimes they have to make the mistakes now, so we can have time to correct them.”
That final sentence is revealing.
Iraola is not simply managing fitness — he is managing integration into a system that is fundamentally different from what these players experienced under Arne Slot last season.
His pressing structures, his positional demands, his expectations in and out of possession all require time and repetition.
The Leeds friendly is the starting point, not the finished product.
Elsewhere, Iraola provided a mixed injury update.
Summer signing Jeremy Jacquet, who impressed in the opening phase of pre-season, has been experiencing discomfort and remains a doubt for the Leeds match.
With Joe Gomez also injured, Liverpool have been operating without senior centre-backs, a situation Iraola acknowledged needs resolving before the Premier League opener on August 22nd.
On a more positive note, Stefan Bajcetic is now training fully with the first team, and Wataru Endo is progressing well, with the Japanese midfielder potentially in line for minutes against Monaco in the next friendly.
Chicago awaits.
And for the first time this summer, Liverpool’s strongest attacking options will be on the pitch together.