Liverpool Faces Injury Challenges Ahead of Season Opener

Andoni Iraola’s first competitive game in charge of Liverpool comes with a familiar Premier League opponent and an unfamiliar problem: a squad already patched together before a ball has been kicked.

Newcastle United visit on Sunday as Liverpool open their league campaign, but several key names will be watching from the stands. A quiet summer in the transfer market has only sharpened the focus on those missing, with pre-season largely built around the same core of players.

One of them is Alexander Isak. Back from a strong World Cup with Sweden, the 26-year-old has led the line in Liverpool’s last three friendlies and looked sharp. The talent is obvious, the output expected. The concern is whether his body can keep pace with the demands after the injury issues that dogged his first season at Anfield.

Iraola did not hide how central Isak is to his plans.

“I think the same as others, an important player for us, in a very good place. Training every day, adding minutes, played a good World Cup with Sweden, fitness levels,” the head coach said on Friday. “I want to keep him there as much as we can. We know his level, he will score the goals. He will give us a lot of things. My fight with him, the instructions, is off the ball. He wants to score but I try not to judge the strikers if they have or haven't scored.”

With only one game roughly every week in the opening stretch, Liverpool are confident they can manage his workload. They may have no choice. Hugo Ekitike’s long-term Achilles injury leaves Isak as the clear focal point for at least the first few months of the season.

The problems run deeper than the forward line.

Joe Gomez blow disrupts defensive plans

Joe Gomez’s pre-season ended almost as soon as it began. Ten minutes into a friendly against Sunderland last month, he was forced off with a muscle issue that has already ruled him out of Sunday and likely a chunk of the early schedule.

“Joe will be some weeks off. It's a muscle injury... it is difficult to say [how long], but normally, I always put myself as one month,” Iraola explained. “It's not massive, it's a normal muscle injury, [but] I think it's going to be impossible to have him for the start of the season because we are not so far [away]. It shouldn't be a lot more.”

The internal expectation is that Gomez could be back around the trip to Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4, if his recovery stays on track. Until then, Iraola must reshuffle, with depth at the back already under strain.

Long road back for Ekitike and Bradley

If Gomez is weeks away, others are staring at months.

Ekitike ruptured his Achilles in April, a brutal injury that has effectively wiped out the start of his Liverpool career under Iraola. The manager’s latest update, delivered in July, underlined the scale of the task facing the forward.

“In terms of order, I think the closest one to returning is Leoni. After will be Conor and Hugo, but especially the last two are still way off. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out.”

Liverpool do not expect to see Ekitike in competitive action until November or December. The same rough timeline applies to Conor Bradley.

The young full-back suffered his major knee injury even before Ekitike’s setback and has spent most of 2026 in rehabilitation. Though his name often gets mentioned alongside the Frenchman’s, Iraola has been clear: both remain “way off” and require patience rather than pressure.

Leoni the nearest light on a long injury tunnel

Giovanni Leoni is the closest of the long-term absentees to a return, but his story carries its own frustration. An ACL injury has already cost him close to a full year of football. Even as he edges nearer to full training, Liverpool will tread carefully.

“In terms of order, I think the closest one to returning is Leoni. After will be Conor and Hugo, but especially the last two are still way off. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out,” Iraola reiterated.

Leoni is expected back before Ekitike and Bradley, yet his case is a reminder of how fragile any timeline can be when a player is coming off such a serious knee injury.

So Iraola steps into Anfield’s technical area for the first time in competitive action knowing exactly where he stands: a new era, an old injury list, and a reliance on a tight group to carry Liverpool through the season’s opening weeks. How long can they hold the line before reinforcements finally arrive?