Liverpool land in Chicago on Monday for two weeks in the States — and for Andoni Iraola, this tour is less a holiday and more an audition. The Spaniard inherited Arne Slot's title-winning squad and now has a fortnight of sweltering American heat to start making it his own.
Three friendlies are on the schedule: Sunderland at Nashville's Geodis Park on July 25, Wrexham at Yankee Stadium on July 29, and Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 2. None of those opponents will trouble the bookmakers. But that's not the point.
Who's actually going
Eight first-team regulars are absent — Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Alisson, Alexis Mac Allister, and new signing Victor Munoz all stay home after their World Cup commitments. Gravenberch, Wirtz and Isak are expected to link up with the squad before the final two games, but the opening match in Nashville will look considerably thin at the top end.
The headline arrival who will feature is Jeremy Jacquet — the £60 million centre-back signed from Rennes. The France under-21 international missed much of last season with a shoulder injury and this tour is his first real chance to show why Liverpool spent that kind of money on him. Early impressions matter. If he looks commanding against Championship opposition, his odds of starting the Premier League opener get considerably shorter.
Harvey Elliott is another name to watch. He returns from a loan at Aston Villa that didn't deliver what either party hoped, and he needs minutes that count — not just appearances. Iraola will notice. That's the whole exercise.
Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni, and Conor Bradley travel but are in rehab mode. Jayden Danns is a doubt with a hamstring issue. A cluster of academy names — Josh Abe, Lewis Koumas, James McConnell, Mor Talla Ndiaye among them — are in the frame to feature, following the template set by Rio Ngumoha, who turned his pre-season showing a year ago into a genuine first-team foothold.
The commercial machine behind the tour
Liverpool aren't flying to America purely for fitness work. Their commercial footprint in the US is already substantial — Expedia on the sleeve, Google Pixel, UPS, Orion Innovation, and a new deal with Tommy Hilfiger announced earlier this year. They have permanent staff in Boston and New York. This tour is as much about activating those relationships as it is about Iraola's tactical shape.
Club legends Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, Phil Thompson and Tash Dowie will work the sponsor events. LFC Foundation coaches are running football clinics. And Adidas — Liverpool's new kit supplier after the switch from Nike — launches the away kit in Brooklyn on July 28, the day before the Wrexham game. Last year's Asia tour was hampered by a kit contract transition. No such friction this time.
The local fanbase is ready. OLSC Chicago president Ben Prout, who grew up near Crewe and has lived in Chicago for seven years, notes that for many of his 1,500 members, this will be the first time they've ever seen Liverpool play in person. Getting 70 Anfield tickets across an entire season for a supporters' branch that size tells you everything about why these tours exist.
- Nashville vs Sunderland — July 25, Geodis Park, 5pm local / 11pm UK
- New York vs Wrexham — July 29, Yankee Stadium, 7:30pm local / 12:30am UK
- Chicago vs Leeds United — August 2, Soldier Field, 3pm local / 9pm UK
Tickets are still available for all three. Nashville ranges from $129 to $392, New York from $109 to $320, Chicago from $114 upward. Liverpool fly straight back to Merseyside after the Leeds game, with Anfield friendlies against Monaco and Como to follow on August 9 and 16.
"Everyone is excited about the new manager and the start of a new era," says OLSC Nashville secretary Tripp Taraldsen. "More than anything, we're looking forward to the camaraderie from having Reds from all over the world coming to share the Liverpool experience with us."
A new manager, a £60m centre-back making his debut, and a squad half-filled with academy hopefuls. The World Cup winners can wait. Iraola's tour starts now.
