Initial 31-man Liverpool squad departs for US tour

Liverpool left for Chicago on Monday with a 31-man touring squad for their pre-season tour in the United States.

A mixed squad of first-team players and academy youngsters have travelled, with some of the World Cup contingent expected to join up during the tour.

Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Alisson, Alexis Mac Allister and new signing Victor Munoz were all at the tournament and their return dates will vary, depending on their situation.

Among the travelling party are a handful of players like Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Stefan Bajcetic, who will continue their injury rehabilitation programmes with the club's medical team.

Chicago will be where the Reds will be largely based for the next fortnight.

Andoni Iraola's side have friendlies scheduled in Nashville, New York and Chicago. The plan is for the squad to fly to Nashville and New York on the day before the games and then to return to Chicago after the matches.

Liverpool's first friendly is on Saturday against Sunderland at Geodis Park in Nashville (23:00 BST).

The Reds then take on Championship side Wrexham at Yankee Stadium next Wednesday evening local time (00:30 BST on Thursday).

Liverpool will finish their trip with a game against Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago a week on Sunday (21:00 BST) before flying back to England.

Their pre-season schedule concludes with two friendlies at Anfield against Monaco (9 August) and Como (16 August) before they kick off their Premier League campaign away to Newcastle on Sunday, 23 August.

Initial Liverpool squad for USA tour (in squad number order): Gomez, Endo, Jacquet, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Bradley, Chiesa, Leoni, Jones, Elliott, Tsimikas, Ekitike, Mamardashvili, Woodman, Frimpong, Abe, Nyoni, Bajcetic, Chambers, Ramsay, Scanlon, McConnell, Jaros, Koumas, Morrison, Ngumoha, Wright, Hall, Sonni-Lambie, Ndukwe, Davies.