Joe Gomez injury clouds Liverpool's commanding preseason win over Sunderland

Liverpool kicked off their United States preseason tour with an entertaining 4-2 win against Sunderland, but the scoreline told only half the story. Goals from Kieran Morrison, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas gave the Reds a comfortable edge, with Timur Tutyerov and Enzo Le Fée responding for the Black Cats. The real drama unfolded in the eighth minute. Captain Joe Gomez, who started at centre-back, was forced off with an injury. It was a crushing blow for a backline already stretched thin. Manager Andoni Iraola did not hide his disappointment in his post-match interview with LFCTV: "Probably the worst news is Joe's injury. We were happy because we trained without losing any players, and unfortunately we lost him straight away in the game." The defensive crisis had been brewing. Ibrahima Konaté left on a free transfer to Real Madrid this summer. Jérémy Jacquet, the €55 million signing from Rennes, sat out the match as a precaution after missing the second half of last season with a shoulder problem. Central defender Giovanni Leoni is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered last September. Virgil van Dijk will only begin training next week at Kirkby and will not travel to the US. Iraola, who earlier in the week in Chicago admitted his defence looked vulnerable, acknowledged the squad was feeling heavy legs from intense training loads. Still, he sees the Sunderland game as a solid foundation for upcoming friendlies against Wrexham in New York and Leeds in Chicago. There was some good news: Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch have already arrived in Chicago after their post-World Cup break and are expected to join full training soon.