Liverpool set for huge injury blow as star misses training | OneFootball

Liverpool vs Wrexham: Iraola Balances Injury Blow With Timely Squad Boost

Liverpool move on to Wrexham this week in New York, and the situation is already clear. There has been a win, there has been encouraging attacking work, and there is already a problem at centre-back.

Andoni Iraola began life on this US tour with a 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville. Pre-season results need context, but a win is a win, especially when key players are missing and the new head coach is still piecing things together.

Wrexham arrive in decent shape themselves. They beat Leeds United 3-2 and had already seen off Manchester United in Helsinki. For a Championship side with promotion ambitions, those results matter. They suggest rhythm, confidence and intensity, all useful traits in July.

Photo: IMAGO

Joe Gomez injury creates immediate concern

The main issue for Liverpool is Joe Gomez. He lasted only 10 minutes against Sunderland before going off injured, and that matters because Liverpool’s defensive depth is already thin. Iraola did not dress it up. He said, “Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe [Gomez]. We were happy because we were kind of going through all the training without losing any player. Unluckily for us, straight away we’ve lost Joe,” the 44-year-old said.

Gomez then missed training in Chicago and is due for tests on what is believed to be a muscle problem. More importantly, he had been Liverpool’s only available senior centre-back against Sunderland. That tells you everything about the current state of the squad.

Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak lift Liverpool options

There was some good news. Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch joined the group for their first training session of the summer after linking up in the United States. All three could feature against Wrexham, which would give Liverpool far more quality in midfield and attack.

Elsewhere, Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni have still not resumed full team training, although Endo is thought to be close. Stefan Bajcetic also continued his gradual return and trained again with the squad.

So that is the picture heading into Liverpool vs Wrexham. Iraola has more attacking tools available, but the Joe Gomez injury leaves an obvious weakness. In pre-season, that is how it goes. You learn quickly what works, and what still needs fixing.

Liverpool posted training footage from the tour as preparations continued ahead of the Wrexham game.