Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign against Newcastle United without several key players due to long-term injuries.
Andoni Iraola’s side have not been particularly active in the transfer market, meaning many of the same players have featured throughout pre-season.
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Alexander Isak has been one of those players since returning from the World Cup with Sweden. The 26-year-old has looked sharp, although Iraola has exercised caution over his fitness following the injury problems he endured last season.
Isak is expected to be heavily relied upon in the opening months of the campaign, particularly with Ekitike sidelined by a long-term Achilles injury.
Conor Bradley has also missed much of 2026 with a serious knee problem, while Joe Gomez picked up an injury during pre-season and is expected to miss Liverpool’s opening games.
There was some positive news on the injury front on Friday, however, as Jayden Danns made his long-awaited return for Liverpool U21s in their 1-1 draw with Everton U21s at Goodison Park.
It was his first appearance since suffering an injury against Manchester City in March. The game was an eventful one, with Mor Talla Ndiaye ending the match in goal for Liverpool and Braiden Graham being sent off for throwing a punch.
Will Wright opened the scoring with a low finish from inside the penalty area. Harvey Davies had already made several good saves before Jack Patterson levelled for Everton with a well-taken finish.
Ollie O’Connor was lively on the right for Liverpool, while Keyrol Figueroa struggled at times to hold the ball up. Josh Sonni-Lambie, operating from the left, also found it difficult to influence the game.
Despite Danns coming on for the final 30 minutes, Liverpool could not find a winner. O’Connor missed a good opportunity, while Everton thought they had scored the winner through Rocco Lambert, only for referee Stephen Parkinson to blow for a foul instead of playing advantage.
Davies was later sent off for bringing down Justin Clarke, leaving Liverpool with no goalkeeper after they had used all their substitutions. Ndiaye stepped in between the posts and made a decent save to preserve a point.