Rio Ngumoha’s second-half goal earned Liverpool a 1-0 pre-season victory over Wrexham at Yankee Stadium, giving new head coach Andoni Iraola back-to-back wins to begin his time with the Reds.
The 17-year-old winger scored the only goal of the game after his effort took a deflection, ensuring Liverpool followed up their 4-2 win over Sunderland with another positive result on their United States tour.
While it was not as entertaining as their opening friendly, the Reds produced another disciplined display as Iraola continued to build towards the new Premier League season.
Iraola pleased with improved structure
Speaking to the club’s media after the match, Iraola admitted he was happier with the team’s overall performance than he had been in the victory over Sunderland.
“I think overall we were more solid than the other day,” he said.
“It was a different kind of game. The pitch is quite narrow and there are not a lot of spaces.
“But, I think we had good spells. And even if the other day we scored more goals and it looked nicer, I think today we were more a team and more collective.
“I think we’re still not there [showing his identity]. We sometimes arrive too late, but I think it’s a step forward, since especially the first half against Sunderland.
“That is more of a reference than the second half. Slowly, I hope every game we are closer and closer.
“We start to add new bodies, because now we are playing with a lot of the young players. We have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive to the beginning of the season in a good place.”
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Senior players set for return
Liverpool are expected to welcome several senior players back into the squad for their next pre-season fixture, with Iraola confirming supporters should finally get a look at some of the club’s biggest names.
“Yes, my idea is for Ryan [Gravenberch], for Florian [Wirtz], for Alex [Isak], for even [Jeremy] Jacquet to have their first minutes against Leeds.
“We’ll see how many minutes they can play, but we have to start slowly integrating more of the senior players that have had less training sessions. I think they should be ready on the weekend to have their first minutes.”
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What’s next for Liverpool?
Liverpool now continue their preparations with three more friendlies before the 2026/27 campaign gets underway.
Liverpool’s pre-season fixtures
August 2: Liverpool vs Leeds – Chicago, 9pm
August 9: Liverpool vs Monaco – Anfield, 2:30pm
August 16: Liverpool vs Como – Anfield, 6pm
SportJustSport writers 
Michael Davey