Liverpool's 2026 Preseason Under Andoni Iraola: Results, Fixtures and What We've Learned
Liverpool's preseason followed the same North American swing as this summer's World Cup, with stops in Nashville, New York and Chicago before finishing with two matches back at Anfield. The Reds open their competitive season away at Newcastle United on August 23.
How Liverpool's Preseason Went
Iraola's tenure began with a bang: a 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville, with academy forward Kieran Morrison opening the scoring inside 13 minutes before Dominik Szoboszlai and Federico Chiesa added goals either side of half-time and winger Lewis Koumas got in on the act too. Sunderland pulled a goal back through a spectacular strike from Enzo Le Fée, but Liverpool controlled most of the game.
A tighter 1-0 win over Wrexham in New York followed, before the tour ended on a sour note in Chicago: Liverpool led Leeds United 2-0 before conceding four unanswered goals in a 4-2 defeat, a collapse ESPN described as evidence that the squad "is clearly still a work in progress." The same problem repeated itself back on home soil, where Liverpool again surrendered a two-goal lead, this time against Monaco, going down 3-2 at Anfield.
The final fixture of preseason was actually two matches in one day: a behind-closed-doors game against Como in the morning, which finished goalless, followed by a public fixture against the same opponents in the afternoon, which Liverpool won 2-0. Splitting a single day into two matches against the same club has become something of an annual habit for Liverpool, who did the same against Athletic Club last August, winning both games.
| Opponent (Result) | Date | Location | Kick-off (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland (W 4-2) | Sat, Jul 25 | GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN | 5:00 p.m. |
| Wrexham (W 1-0) | Wed, Jul 29 | Yankee Stadium, New York, NY | 7:30 p.m. |
| Leeds United (L 2-4) | Sun, Aug 2 | Soldier Field, Chicago, IL | 4:00 p.m. |
| AS Monaco (L 2-3) | Sun, Aug 9 | Anfield, Liverpool | 9:30 a.m. |
| Como (D 0-0)* | Sun, Aug 16 | AXA Training Centre, Liverpool | 7:00 a.m. |
| Como (W 2-0)* | Sun, Aug 16 | Anfield, Liverpool | 1:00 p.m. |
*The Como fixture was played twice on the same day: a closed-doors match in the morning, followed by a public match in the afternoon.
Where Liverpool Played
Three of the six matches were played in the United States, tracing a similar path across the country to the World Cup that wrapped up earlier in the summer. Liverpool then returned to Merseyside for the final two fixtures, both at Anfield, plus the behind-closed-doors Como match at the club's AXA Training Centre.
Working World Cup Players Back Into the Squad
Tournament rules give World Cup participants 21 days off once their country is eliminated, which shaped who was available for which friendly. Liverpool had seven players at the World Cup, three of them, Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch, with the Netherlands. Gravenberch made it back in time to feature against Leeds in Chicago, while Gakpo and van Dijk didn't reappear until the Monaco match at Anfield, where goalkeeper Alisson also returned. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak both scored in that 3-2 loss to Monaco.
Alexis Mac Allister, who went all the way to the World Cup final with Argentina, didn't rejoin the squad until the closed-doors draw with Como, the last realistic point in preseason he could have played given how deep his country went.
Joe Gomez's preseason got off to a rough start too, withdrawn inside the first ten minutes of the Sunderland game with what appeared to be a recurring muscle issue, an early reminder of the injury problems that have dogged him in recent seasons.
Iraola's Early Approach
Even in defeat, Iraola's fingerprints have been visible on how Liverpool are playing. His Liverpool sides have looked for forward passes quickly once opponents commit numbers to pressing, and haven't been afraid to go long from Alisson or backup goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili when teams press high. Iraola has cited the influence of Marcelo Bielsa, who coached him at Athletic Club, on his attacking principles, and the busy, direct style on show in preseason bears that out. Whether it translates into results once the games start to count is the question Liverpool fans will be asking from August 23 onward.
Liverpool's First Premier League Fixtures of 2026/27
Liverpool open the season with a run that alternates between home and away matches all the way through late October, when they get their first back-to-back home games, against Brighton and Hove Albion and then Arsenal.
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, August 23 | Newcastle United | Away |
| Sat, August 29 | Nottingham Forest | Home |
| Fri, September 4 | Ipswich Town | Away |
| Sat, September 12 | Fulham | Home |
| Sun, September 20 | Bournemouth | Away |
Iraola's first competitive match in charge, fittingly, comes against one of the Premier League's traditional heavyweights rather than a gentle introduction, with Newcastle awaiting at St James' Park on August 23.