Liverpool confirm details of first pre-season fixture | OneFootball

Liverpool Pre-Season Tour Begins at GEODIS Park as Andoni Iraola Era Starts in Nashville

Liverpool have confirmed the venue details for the first game of Andoni Iraola’s reign, and the setting is suitably modern, loud and built for spectacle. On Saturday July 25, Liverpool open their summer schedule against Sunderland at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, with kick-off set for 11pm BST, 5pm local time.

This is where the new cycle starts. Iraola has only recently taken charge after Liverpool’s collapse in 2025-26 led to Arne Slot’s exit, and pre-season now carries more weight than usual. A new coach, fresh signings and a squad that badly needs direction mean this is more than a fitness exercise. It is the first public look at how Liverpool intend to reset.

GEODIS Park offers fitting stage

GEODIS Park is not some stop-gap exhibition ground. It is a serious football venue, opened in May 2022 at a reported cost of $335 million, built in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston area on the site of The Fairgrounds Nashville. It is home to Nashville SC and has a capacity of a little over 30,000, making it the largest purpose-built football stadium in the United States and Canada.

That matters, but the layout matters more. The final row is just 150 feet from the pitch, which means supporters are kept close to the action. For a pre-season game, where atmosphere can often feel manufactured, that should help. There is also a safe-standing section, a detail many Liverpool fans travelling over will appreciate.

Nashville marks first step for Iraola

The match against Sunderland is the first of five friendlies lined up before the new campaign. It will be the first competitive-style image of Iraola’s Liverpool, even if the result itself counts for nothing. What matters is structure, intensity and whether the team looks like it has a recognisable idea.

Supporters have waited for that. Last season drifted badly, and the defence of the Premier League title never got going. So this tour matters because it has to show competence quickly. Nobody sensible is drawing hard conclusions from July friendlies, but first impressions count when a club are trying to restore credibility.

Liverpool fans set for major US occasion

GEODIS Park has already staged major events. It hosted three matches at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, with Boca Juniors, Al Hilal and LAFC among the teams to play there. It has also been selected to host nine games during the 2028 Olympic football tournament.

For supporters heading to Tennessee, tickets are available through Ticketmaster, while the stadium is reachable on Nashville’s WeGo public transport network, with Route 8 offering a direct matchday option. A day pass costs $4.

As noted in club information, the logistics are now clear. The bigger point is simpler. Liverpool’s pre-season tour starts in a proper football ground, against familiar opposition, with a new manager under immediate scrutiny. Nashville is not the main event, but it is where the new story starts.