Richard Morgan

Andoni Iraola began his Liverpool tenure with a 4-2 pre-season win over Sunderland in Nashville. Joe Gomez's early injury highlighted Liverpool's need for another centre-back, given existing fitness concerns involving Gomez, Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni. The match offered early evidence of Iraola's preferred energetic, dynamic and counter-pressing style, contrasting with the slower possession-based approach associated with Arne Slot. Dominik Szoboszlai stood out as a key midfielder, while young players including Kieran Morrison, Lewis Koumas, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and James McConnell impressed. Iraola viewed the match as a useful starting point but acknowledged that the team still requires significant improvement and greater freshness.

Manchester United opened their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Helsinki, where new signing Andrey Santos made his debut. Sam Smith scored the decisive goal shortly before halftime, and backup goalkeeper Radek Vitek prevented a larger deficit with key saves. Michael Carrick used the match to give first‑team players initial minutes before rotating to academy players for the second half, expressing satisfaction with fitness progress and the absence of injuries. The result holds little significance for United as they continue preparations ahead of upcoming fixtures against Rosenborg and other pre-season opponents.