Liverpool's pre-season schedule is about to begin.
On Saturday 25th July the Reds will face fellow Premier League side Sunderland in Tennessee, with fans getting a first glimpse of an Andoni Iraola Liverpool team. Having finished seventh last season, just six points below the Reds, Régis Le Bris' Black Cats will be no push-overs in Nashville.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fixture
Liverpool vs Sunderland match info
- Date: Saturday 25 July.
- Kick off times (s): 5pm (local) and 11pm (BST).
- Competition: Pre-season friendly.
- Venue: Geodis Park - Nashville, Tennessee.
- How to watch: LFCTV.
How do I watch Liverpool vs Sunderland?
This match is available to watch live on LFCTV and All Red Video around the world.
The fixture is on ESPN Select in the United States, Stan Sport in Australia and beIN Sports Connect in various countries, including New Zealand.
Liverpool vs Sunderland match preview
Liverpool: This is the start of a five-match pre-season schedule for Liverpool, so how strong will the Reds look on their US-tour? It feels like the start of a new era at Anfield.
Arne Slot was sacked earlier this summer following a disappointing fourth-place finish in May, with Andoni Iraola now in charge at Anfield.
The reset comes alongside a massive squad overhaul, as club legends Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, and Ibrahima Konaté have all departed. Fans will certainly hope these sweeping changes yield a far better campaign than the last, when their side put in one of the meekest title defences by any Premier League champion.
Safe to assume, most in attendance at Geodis Park on Saturday will be bedecked in red, so will they have a victory to celebrate?
Sunderland: As for Sunderland, they are preparing for a first European campaign in 53 years; last season's seventh place finish has earned the Black Cats a spot in the Europa League.
This was an exceptional achievement by Régis Le Bris' side, considering they were a newly-promoted club, but juggling domestic and continental commitments is never easy.
This is Sunderland's second mach of pre season, smashing York City 5-1 last weekend. Enzo Le Fée scored twice, while Chris Rigg, Timur Tutierov and youngster Tom Proctor were also on target. The Black Cats will also take on Leeds and Wrexham in the US, before facing Ligue 1 outfits Lens and Stade Rennais to conclude pre-season.
Last season in the Premier League, Sunderland secured a 1-1 draw at Anfield, before Liverpool were made to work extremely hard for a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light a month later with a goal from Virgil van Dijk.
Therefore if Iraola is to enjoy a winning start to pre-season, it is unlikely to be straight-forward in Nashville.
Liverpool team news
Iraola is without Liverpool's World Cup representatives. Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak will join up with the rest of the squad in America after this match, while Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo will miss the entire US tour, starting pre-season at AXA Training Centre.
Alexis Mac Allister and new signing Víctor Muñoz won't be back for a while, after their two national teams met in the World Cup Final less than a week ago.
Meantime, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitiké are with the squad, but only to continue rehabilitation. Stefan Bajčetić and Wataru Endō have also been sidelined long-term, but are closing in on a return, albeit this fixture is expected to come too soon.
In terms of who might actually feature in Nashville, there will be a first appearance in Liverpool red for 21 year old centre-back Jérémy Jacquet. Giorgi Mamardashvili will get a chance to stake a claim in goal, while Harvey Elliott is back, following a completely wasted season at Aston Villa, eager to impress. Lastly, after the teenager made his senior England debut last month, everyone is excited to see what Rio Ngumoha can produce.
Sunderland team news
Sunderland themselves had ten World Cup representatives, the same number as Liverpool, so are equally depleted.
As a result Régis Le Bris is without Granit Xhaka, Chemsdine Talbi, Omar Alderete, Nilson Angulo, Lutsharel Geertruida, Robin Roefs, Brian Brobbey, Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki.
However, Wilson Isidor is in the travelling party, after Haiti were eliminated in the group stages. Star centre-back Dan Ballard missed key matches for club and country last season due to injury, so will be hoping to use pre-season to rebuild his fitness.
Predicted Line-ups
- Liverpool predicted lineup: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Jacquet, Gomez, Kerkez; Nyoni, Jones, Szoboszlai; Elliott, Chiesa, Ngumoha.
- Sunderland predicted lineup: Ellborg; Mukiele, Hume, O’Nien, Reinildo; Browne, Rigg, Le Fée; Ta Bi, Tutierov, Isidor.
What the managers have said:
Andoni Iraola (Liverpool)
"I think the pre-season is always the foundation of what’s going to be a long season. But when you arrive to a new club it’s even more important because you don’t have a lot of training sessions, you don’t have a lot of even friendlies. We are playing five friendlies before the season starts, so every training session, every pre-season friendly for us is massive... we have to use it properly because we want to arrive in a good spot on the first day of the season."
Régis Le Bris (Sunderland)
"We will go through this pre-season with different issues and dynamics to manage. We don’t want to rush the game time for our players. For the players who experienced the World Cup, we will have to build the first layers without much game time at the beginning."
- Score prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
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