Liverpool began their campaign under new head coach Andoni Iraola with a 4-2 victory over Sunderland in Nashville. The win was aided by goals from Kieran Morrison, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa, and Lewis Koumas. However, the match was marred by a late injury to defender Joe Gomez.
Morrison opened the scoring for Liverpool with a left-footed finish after a run from Harvey Elliott. Sunderland equalized through Timur Tutierov and took the lead via Enzo Le Fee. Szoboszlai leveled the score with a strike from outside the box in the second half. Chiesa then put Liverpool ahead with a goal assisted by Calvin Ramsay, before Koumas sealed the victory.
Despite the win, Iraola noted areas for improvement, stating, "It doesn't matter the result but keep pushing, don't relax, get used to not playing too comfortable. We still have a lot of things to improve." The team showed promising phases of pressing, but the defensive lapses that led to Sunderland's goals highlighted areas needing work.
Iraola and his squad are set to continue their preparations in Chicago, where Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Ryan Gravenberch are expected to join training. The team's next match is against Wrexham in New York on Thursday.
In other matches, Sunderland will face Leeds at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey concurrently.