On Friday night, several Liverpool players took a short stroll from their downtown Nashville hotel to Broadway, the city’s famed entertainment strip.
Szoboszlai, part of that group, looked inspired. Handed the armband after coming on at half-time, he picked up where he left off last season, blasting in a superb strike from distance to make it 2-2. That followed Sunderland overturning Liverpool’s opener: Enzo Le Fée levelled before Timur Tutierov put them ahead.
Another encouraging sign was Harvey Elliott’s surging run on his first outing back from his spell at Aston Villa, laying on the pass for Morrison to score Liverpool’s first. The 19-year-old cut in from the right and finished sweetly with his left foot.
The Northern Ireland youngster shone throughout, constantly testing the Sunderland defence. With Mohamed Salah gone, Liverpool still need a high-calibre winger, but Morrison showed he could be a useful option off the bench if he isn’t loaned out this summer.
Iraola was animated on the touchline and his team pressed well in spells, but the nature of the goals conceded underlined the work still to do. Le Fée was afforded too much room to beat Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Liverpool were sliced open too easily for Tutierov’s finish.
In front of 24,897 fans—most of them backing Liverpool—fan favourite Chiesa delighted the crowd by making it 3-2 with a fine finish from a smart Calvin Ramsay pass, before Koumas rounded off an impressive display by sealing the win.
Earlier in that move, Josh Abe played a key part by driving up the right flank. The England youth international, who only turned 16 last week, came on for his Liverpool debut after the break and offered promising glimpses of his talent.
Iraola and his staff now head back to their Chicago base with a win, fully aware it’s only the beginning. Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch have already arrived in the Windy City and will begin training on Sunday.
“It’s not about the result—keep pushing, don’t get comfortable. We have plenty to improve,” the Liverpool head coach said.
Next up, Liverpool face Wrexham in New York on Thursday (00:30 BST). Sunderland take on Leeds at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey at the same time.