Liverpool suffered a 3-2 defeat to Monaco in a preseason friendly at Anfield on August 9, marking Andoni Iraola’s first match as Liverpool manager at the venue [1, 2]. Liverpool led 2-0 at halftime thanks to first-half goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz but conceded three second-half goals to lose the fixture [1, 3, 4].
Aleksandr Golovin scored a penalty and Mika Biereth added an equalizer for Monaco before Paris Brunner headed in a late winner [1, 2, 4]. The result means Liverpool have now squandered two consecutive two-goal leads in preseason, following another home defeat to Leeds United earlier this month, where they lost 4-2 after leading 2-0 [1, 5, 6].
Iraola made wholesale changes at halftime, substituting all 11 players, and handed new signing Victor Munoz his Liverpool debut [1, 4]. Captain Virgil van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, and winger Cody Gakpo also made their first appearances since returning from the World Cup [1, 7].
Iraola acknowledged fatigue as a key problem late in matches, saying, "I think we played really good (in the) first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but right now probably we don’t have much more in terms of the level required to play like this" and "The problem is right now probably they don’t have the energy for 90 minutes and they start to get tired" [1, 5].
New signing Jeremy Jacquet was left out of the squad due to ongoing fitness issues, though Iraola expects him to be available soon: "We were in doubt whether to put him in the squad today, we decided not but he should be fine for the next one" [5]. Liverpool have also faced preseason injury setbacks with players including Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, and Curtis Jones missing time [8].
Reports indicate Liverpool are close to signing Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo on loan, with an option to buy for €55 million [8, 6].
Liverpool will open their 2026-27 Premier League campaign away at Newcastle United on August 23 [1, 2].
