Andoni Iraola's Premier League Challenge with Liverpool
Andoni Iraola’s first competitive game in charge of Liverpool comes with a familiar Premier League backdrop: a packed Anfield, a high‑stakes opener against Newcastle United – and an injury list that already shapes his hand.
The new head coach has barely dipped into the market, so the faces are largely the same as last season. The problems are too. Several key players are missing long term, forcing Iraola to lean heavily on those who have made it through pre-season unscathed.
One of those is Alexander Isak.
Isak burdened with early-season responsibility
Since returning from the World Cup with Sweden, Isak has featured prominently in Liverpool’s warm-up games, starting the last three friendlies and looking sharp. The staff have still treated him carefully after the fitness issues that stalked his first season at Anfield, but Iraola made it clear on Friday he sees the 26-year-old as central 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.
“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 Liverpool playing roughly once a week in the opening stretch, there is confidence he can cope with the workload. He will have to. Ekitike’s absence leaves Isak as the focal point for at least the first few months of the campaign.
Gomez blow complicates defensive plans
At the back, Iraola’s options have already taken a hit.
Joe Gomez lasted just 10 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Sunderland before pulling up with a muscle problem. The defender’s versatility across the back line would have been invaluable to a new coach still feeling out his best structure, but Iraola has resigned himself to starting the season without him.
“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. 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 tentative target is an away trip to Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4. Until then, Liverpool will have to cope without one of their most experienced defensive options.
Long road back for Ekitike and Bradley
The picture is even more stark for Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley.
Ekitike ruptured his Achilles in April, a brutal injury that instantly wiped out the end of last season and a chunk of this one. Bradley suffered his major knee injury even earlier, but the timelines for the pair now run almost parallel.
Iraola grouped them together when asked for an update in July.
“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 are pencilling in November or December for both Ekitike and Bradley. Until then, they are absent from the equation, their rehabilitation a slow burn in the background while the season gathers pace without them.
Leoni edging towards light at the end of the tunnel
Giovanni Leoni sits slightly ahead in the queue.
The defender has been out with an ACL injury and is on course to complete the grim milestone of a full year on the sidelines. Iraola again highlighted him as the nearest to a return among the long-term casualties.
“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.”
There is no firm date on Leoni’s comeback, but the expectation is that he will be available before Ekitike and Bradley. For a squad stretched in key areas, even that small step could matter once the fixtures begin to pile up.
Iraola’s early test
So Iraola walks into his first Premier League game with Liverpool already juggling absences: Gomez out until at least early September, Ekitike and Bradley facing a race to be seen before winter bites, Leoni inching closer but still short.
Isak, fit and firing, suddenly becomes more than just a striker. He is the spearhead of a side that cannot yet call on its full depth.
Newcastle arrive on Sunday. The season will not wait for Liverpool’s injured to heal.
