Liverpool won 4-2 against Sunderland in a pre-season friendly in Nashville, marking Andoni Iraola's first game in charge, but the occasion was overshadowed by an injury to centre-back and captain Joe Gomez, who was substituted after just eight minutes. Iraola said the injury was the "worst news" from an otherwise positive training camp, and the setback exposed how thin Liverpool's defensive options are, with new signing Jeremy Jacquet also unavailable and Virgil van Dijk rested following the Netherlands' World Cup campaign.

With senior centre-backs absent, two 18-year-old debutants, Mor Talla N'diaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, filled in until the 68th minute, while 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni remains sidelined recovering from a serious ACL injury. On the pitch, goals from Kieran Morrison, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas secured the win in front of 24,897 fans, with Harvey Elliott impressing on his return from a loan spell at Aston Villa and Morrison catching the eye as a potential winger option following Mohamed Salah's departure.