Gomez is Liverpool's current longest-serving player Johnnie Izquierdo via Getty ImagesJuly 30, 2026 Updated 1:37 pm EDTLiverpool defender Joe Gomez will miss the start of the new Premier League season due to the muscle injury he suffered during their current pre-season tour of the US.The club’s longest-serving player limped off just eight minutes into last weekend’s opening friendly against Sunderland in Nashville and won’t be fit for the trip to Newcastle United on August 23.“Joe has a muscle injury. It was quite clear since he complained straightaway, so he will be out for some weeks,” head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed at a press conference in Chicago.“It’s difficult to say (in terms of a timescale) – normally one month. If it goes very well then a little bit less. If it goes bad then a bit more. It’s not massive. But I think it will be impossible to have him for the start of the season because we are not so far from that but it shouldn’t be a lot more.”The 29-year-old defender’s absence leaves Liverpool short at centre-back with captain Virgil van Dijk starting his pre-season back on Merseyside this week rather than travelling to the US.New signing Jeremy Jacquet has yet to feature in the friendlies as he builds up his fitness, while Giovanni Leoni is in the final stages of his rehab after a serious knee injury. Teenagers Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Mor Talla Ndiaye have been the only available centre-backs, with full-back Luke Chambers also filling in there.Jacquet, 21, is expected to make his debut in Sunday’s final game of the tour against Leeds United at Chicago’s Soldier Field.“You’ve seen in these games that we are pretty thin in the centre-back position,” Iraola added. “We still don’t have Virgil. The only centre-backs we have right now are Mor and Ifeanyi who are 18, just arrived at the club and are doing incredibly well.“Yesterday Luke Chambers played there (against Wrexham). He’s not a centre-back, but he played really well. Until we recover some bodies, I think Jeremy is ready to go.“We will recover Virgil, but I’m happy that playing against Sunderland and Wrexham with 18-year-old centre-backs, the team has shown composure and solidity at the back and it speaks very well about them.”Jul 30, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms