Iraola to push Wirtz and Isak to start against Leeds

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Andoni Iraola believes it is time to throw Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz in from the start for Liverpool when they take on Leeds United.

Liverpool have beaten Wrexham and Sunderland during their pre-season tour of the United States so far.

However, neither Isak nor Wirtz, or Ryan Gravenberch, have featured so far.

The trio were all involved in the World Cup, with each of their nations – Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands – knocked out in the round of 32.

And while he has been cautious with their return to action, new Liverpool boss Iraola thinks the time is right to get his star names back to it.

“I think we’ve been cautious in terms of giving them the time to reach the level where the others are, because they’ve been training for two weeks before them, but my idea is that the three of them will play the last game against Leeds,” Iraola told Liverpool’s official media channels.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 2, 2026

“Probably we’ll have to restrict their minutes. We still have another three weeks before the start of the season, when they will play more; we can push them more.

“But I think we need them to start as soon as possible because sometimes they have to make the mistakes now, so we can have time to correct them.”

Isak endured a difficult first season at Liverpool following his record-breaking move from Newcastle United.

The forward featured just 22 times, with his campaign interrupted by a broken leg he sustained in December.

Wirtz fared better, scoring seven goals and laying on eight assists in 49 appearances across all competitions, while creating 99 chances, but the playmaker still faced scrutiny for his displays following a big-money switch from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool open their Premier League campaign against Newcastle on August 23. 

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