The Wrexham Test: Liverpool’s Squad Picture Comes Into Focus

Three matches into pre-season and Liverpool are already learning plenty about where this squad stands. The 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville gave Andoni Iraola his first victory as head coach, and the attacking football on show mattered more than the scoreline itself, especially with several key names still working their way back into full training.

Next up is Wrexham, no soft addition to the schedule. The Welsh club arrive off wins over Leeds United and Manchester United, results that speak to real intent from a Championship side with promotion ambitions worth taking seriously in their own right.

Gomez injury exposes the thin edge of defensive cover

The uncomfortable moment of the Sunderland game came early. Joe Gomez lasted barely ten minutes before he was forced off, and Iraola didn’t try to soften the news afterwards. He admitted it was “probably the worst news” of the tour so far, adding that the squad had gone through training without losing a single player until that point. Gomez has since missed a session in Chicago and is waiting on further tests for what’s understood to be a muscle issue.

What makes this sting is the timing. Gomez was Liverpool’s only fit senior centre-back available against Sunderland, and that isn’t a minor squad quirk, it’s a genuine vulnerability heading into a season where the back line will be asked to do plenty of heavy lifting.

Wirtz, Isak and Gravenberch offer a timely lift

There’s genuine reason for optimism too. Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch all trained with the group for the first time this summer after linking up with the squad in the United States, and all three could feature against Wrexham, instantly changing what Iraola has to work with in midfield and attack.

Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni are still not back in full training, though Endo is said to be closing in, while Stefan Bajcetic continued his own gradual return alongside the group. Stacked together, it’s a squad still assembling itself piece by piece.

Our take

Pre-season always mixes signal with noise, and this week gave us both. The attacking reinforcements arriving in training are exactly what supporters wanted to see. But the Gomez injury is the story that actually matters heading into August. Liverpool went into the summer needing another body at centre-back in reserve, and results like this do nothing but confirm it. Wrexham will tell us more about the attack. The Gomez scan will tell us more about how urgent that defensive business really is.