"We're stoked to have Liverpool in town," says Tripp Taraldsen, secretary of the Official Liverpool Supporters' Club in Nashville. That's not just local enthusiasm talking — Liverpool's two-week US pre-season tour, starting Monday with a flight to Chicago, is the first real look anyone gets at who Andoni Iraola actually is as a Liverpool manager.
Iraola inherited a squad that won the Premier League under Arne Slot. He now has three friendlies, sweltering Midwest heat, and a squad missing eight World Cup absentees to start putting his own fingerprints on this group. The training base is Chicago. The matches are in Nashville, New York, and Chicago — against Sunderland, Wrexham, and Leeds United respectively.
Who's there and who's not
Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, Alisson, Alexis Mac Allister, and new signing Victor Munoz are all sitting this opening stretch out after their World Cup commitments. Gravenberch, Wirtz, and Isak are expected to join up ahead of the New York and Chicago games — which means the Nashville match against Sunderland on July 25 is going to lean heavily on youth.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Rio Ngumoha announced himself on last summer's Asia tour, then kicked on into the first team. The likes of Harvey Elliott, Lewis Koumas, James McConnell, and Josh Abe will be watching that blueprint closely. Elliott in particular has something to prove — a season-long loan at Aston Villa didn't deliver what anyone hoped, and Iraola's arrival is effectively a clean slate. Or a last chance, depending on how you look at it.
New £60m signing Jeremy Jacquet will be the marquee attraction for curious supporters. The French defender from Rennes missed the second half of last season with a shoulder injury but is fit to feature. For a side that conceded very little under Slot, seeing how Jacquet slots into the defensive setup is genuinely worth watching — and his early performances will sharpen pre-season odds on Liverpool's defensive record for 2026-27.
The commercial machine behind the tour
Three games in Nashville (Geodis Park, 30,000 capacity), New York (Yankee Stadium), and Chicago (Soldier Field, 62,500) aren't just warm-up matches. Liverpool have commercial staff permanently based in Boston and New York. Sponsorship partners include Expedia, Google Pixel, UPS, Orion Innovation, and now Tommy Hilfiger. This tour is as much a business trip as a football one.
Adidas — Liverpool's new kit supplier from August 1 — will launch the club's away strip at a Brooklyn event on July 28, the day before the Wrexham match. On last year's Asia tour, Liverpool were still in Nike gear while the Adidas deal sat unsigned. No such complications this time.
Club legends Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, Phil Thompson, and Tash Dowie will be doing the sponsor rounds alongside the squad. LFC Foundation coaches are running youth clinics. It's the full operation.
- Nashville vs Sunderland – Geodis Park, July 25, 5pm local (11pm UK)
- New York vs Wrexham – Yankee Stadium, July 29, 7:30pm local (12:30am UK)
- Chicago vs Leeds United – Soldier Field, August 2, 3pm local (9pm UK)
Ben Prout, OLSC Chicago president, put it plainly: "For a lot of our 1,500 members, this will be their first chance to watch Liverpool live." Getting 70 Anfield tickets across an entire season will do that. Soldier Field on August 2 won't be Anfield, but it won't be far off in terms of atmosphere.
After the Leeds game, the squad flies straight back to Merseyside. Anfield friendlies against Monaco and Como follow on August 9 and 16 before the competitive season begins. Iraola has about three weeks to figure out what this team actually looks like. The US tour is where that process starts.
