Liverpool beat Sunderland 4-1 in Andoni Iraola's first match as head coach, a pre-season friendly played in front of 24,897 fans at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee. The scoreline was comfortable. The evening was not without alarm.

Joe Gomez, wearing the captain's armband, lasted just 10 minutes before limping off with an injury. His departure left Liverpool with two 18-year-olds — Mor Talla Ndiaye, a £1 million signing from Amitie in Senegal, and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, a £2.5 million arrival from Austria Vienna — as the central defensive pairing for the remainder of the match. Kostas Tsimikas took the armband from Gomez, then passed it to Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time.

The backdrop to that defensive precociousness is a summer of transition at the back. Ibrahima Konate has left for Real Madrid. Giovanni Leoni, signed to help fill the gap, is still recovering from an ACL injury and has not resumed full training. Jeremy Jacquet, a £55 million acquisition from Rennes, is the headline defensive reinforcement — but against Sunderland, he was not the one carrying the burden.

Before all of that, there was a moment of stillness. Both sets of supporters observed a silence and applause in tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, who managed both clubs during his career. The respect was mutual, and the applause that followed felt genuine.

Then the football started. Kieran Morrison, a 19-year-old winger starting on the right, scored the first goal of the Iraola era, finishing from a Harvey Elliott assist. Sunderland — managed by Regis Le Bris and wearing pink kits — responded through a Jaydon Jones and Timur Tutierov combination that briefly levelled the match. Their goalkeeper, Melker Ellborg, could do nothing about what came next.

Szoboszlai made it 2-1 after the break. Federico Chiesa added a third. Lewis Koumas rounded things off with a fourth. Three second-half goals, spread across the squad, gave the new manager his first win with a degree of comfort.

What makes this stand out is the sheer number of bodies missing. Liverpool were without World Cup finalists Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz, plus Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Ryan Gravenberch. Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, and Alisson were due back at Kirkby the following week to resume pre-season training. Sunderland, too, were depleted — Granit Xhaka, Brian Brobbey, and Thomas Meunier all absent.

For a friendly in late July, the setting carried weight. Geodis Park holds 30,000; nearly 25,000 filled it. Ticket prices ranged from $129 to $392 (£96 to £292), with streaming passes at £8 for those watching from home. Both clubs are midway through North American tours — Liverpool head next to Chicago to face Leeds, while Sunderland travel to Harrison, New Jersey, for their own meeting with Leeds on 30 July.

One match, one win, one injury to monitor. The Iraola era is underway — and the defensive picture it has exposed is the first thing he will need to address.