Liverpool's US tour ends with 4-2 loss to Leeds, leaving Iraola plenty to ponder

On the flight home from Chicago, Andoni Iraola had plenty of time to think. Liverpool's pre-season tour of the United States ended with a 4-2 loss to Daniel Farke's Leeds, and the game was a story of two very different halves. The first half was arguably the best Liverpool have produced since Iraola took charge. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, who cost a combined £225m last summer, returned to the lineup and gave the side star quality. Liverpool pressed Leeds into mistakes, moved the ball with confidence and looked dangerous every time they went forward. Then came the second half. Iraola made a raft of changes, but his team collapsed, conceding four unanswered goals in 25 minutes. The defensive issues were hard to miss. Leeds scored twice from set pieces, and Dominik Szoboszlai admitted that is a problem Liverpool must fix. "We conceded two goals from set-pieces. We have to fix that and make sure we deal with them better," the midfielder said. The backline that finished the game included Calvin Ramsay, Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Mor Talla Ndiaye, an inexperienced group left badly exposed. The lack of squad depth and physicality was alarming, and senior figures such as Curtis Jones and Federico Chiesa did not help their own cause. Iraola had spoken earlier in the week about the uncertainty of August. "I particularly hate this month of August because you start the competitions and you still don't know if some of the players are going to leave and who's going to come - there is a lot of uncertainty," he said. There were still genuine positives. Luke Chambers, a left-back who spent the second half of last season on loan at Charlton, had moved inside for the friendly against Wrexham and kept his place. He opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Milos Kerkez got a touch on Szoboszlai's corner. Rio Ngumoha caused problems down the left, and 19-year-old Trey Nyoni again impressed. In the 40th minute, Nyoni floated the ball across to Jeremie Frimpong, who cut it back for Wirtz to finish. Isak was involved in the move, and it was a goal worthy of any stage. Nyoni has been linked with a loan move this summer, but performances like this suggest Liverpool should keep him around. He played only 229 minutes in 2025-26, yet Iraola has spoken glowingly about his confidence on the ball and his desire to go direct. Iraola will meet Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Alisson Becker and new signing Victor Munoz at the AXA Training Centre in the coming days. Alexis Mac Allister will arrive later after Argentina's run to the World Cup final. Munoz, who did not play a minute in Spain's successful World Cup campaign, will return earlier to speed up his integration. Liverpool made no signings during their time in America. Iraola wanted to see the squad at his disposal before making decisions. What he saw in this defeat will now shape those calls.