Liverpool take on Leeds United in their third pre-season friendly of the summer at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday night
Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Stefan Bajcetic during a Liverpool training session
Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Stefan Bajcetic during a Liverpool training session(Image: (Becky Oliver - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
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Liverpool continue their preparations for the new season when they take on Leeds United tonight. The game at Soldier Field in Chicago is the club’s last of their 2026 pre-season tour of the US.
So far during their US tour, the Reds have beaten Sunderland 4-2 and Wrexham 1-0, with Andoni Iraola making full use of his squad. And with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz all set to feature tonight, the new Reds boss will have plenty of options to choose from.
Our Reds writers have picked the teams they would like to see.
Paul Gorst
The returns of Alexander Isak, Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz will give the Liverpool squad a serious injection of quality for this one.
But I don’t expect all three to start and predicting a team is tough given Andoni Iraola has not named what would be a more traditional starting XI for either game in America so far.
Centre-back is the issue for Iraola, so Ifeanyi Ndukwe will likely start alongside Luke Chambers and both have enjoyed good pre-seasons to date.
At full-back, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez start on the right and left respectively. Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott can complete the midfield three.
On the left side, I’m going to allow Calum Scanlon the chance to impress once more and Rio Ngumoha starts off the right. Will Wright leads the line with Isak, Wirtz and Gravenberch all set to feature at some point.
My team: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Ndukwe, Chambers, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Jones; Ngumoha, Elliott, Scanlon; Wright.
Rio Ngumoha #73 of Liverpool FC celebrates with teammate Dominik Szoboszlai #8 after scoring the team's first goal during the second half of the pre-season friendly against Wrexham AFC
Rio Ngumoha celebrates with Dominik Szoboszlai after scoring against Wrexham (Image: (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images))
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Mark Jones
Ifeanyi Ndukwe has obviously been the breakout star of this tour, but the 18-year-old played 80 minutes against Sunderland and 90 against Wrexham so he’ll need a rest here.
In an ideal world Jeremy Jacquet would come in, but it sounds as if the club are being extra cautious with him, so that leaves a centre-back pairing of Luke Chambers and Mor Talla Ndiaye ahead of Giorgi Mamardashvili, with Jacquet maybe getting some minutes in the second half.
Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez can step up their fitness in the full-back positions, and I’d like to see Trey Nyoni play with the returning Ryan Gravenberch in midfield.
Ahead of them, Rio Ngumoha can have another go on the right after scoring the winner against Wrexham, the versatile Lewis Koumas gets a go on the left, and Florian Wirtz plays behind Alexander Isak for the first time under Andoni Iraola, but certainly not the last.
My team (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Ndiaye, Chambers, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Nyoni; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Koumas; Isak