Pre-Season Club Friendlies mean different things to different teams. For Liverpool, it’s the first chance for new boss Andoni Iraola to coach his team against other competition. It’s also the chance for fans to see new signings like Jeremy Jacquet while adjusting to life without Mohamed Salah and others. Liverpool are used to traveling the world so that supporters from other countries can see them play. A trip to Nashville, Tennessee, is all business for the Reds and a way to get minutes in their legs before the season starts.
But what about Sunderland? The Black Cats are a different story. They were the darlings of the EPL last season as the newly promoted side shocked the football world and themselves to rise to 7th in the final EPL standings and qualify for the Europa League on the final day of the season with a 2-1 win over Chelsea. The Black Cats hope to climb to even greater heights this season, and it starts tonight with hopes of a strong performance vs. Liverpool.
Black Cats Are The Underdogs
Most newly promoted sides are spending their first year in the EPL just trying to stave off relegation. Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris said that was his club’s main goal last season.
“I think we were worried about relegation every day until the end of December,” he said in his pre-match press conference. I think we surprised everyone and maybe even ourselves with how well we played, and now we are just looking for that continuity. We are still the underdog against a big club like Liverpool, though, and Americans love love an underdog story, so Sunderland is a perfect team for you to support during the season.”
Not A Friendly
Sunderland’s teenage star Chris Rigg is looking forward to testing his skills against a team like Liverpool, but he is also looking to score a huge result for his club.
“There is no such thing as a friendly anymore,” he said. “We want to win, and we are going to try our best to win. Getting a result vs a team like Liverpool will be a challenge, but I think it will set a bar for what we can do the rest of the season.”
Le Bris adds that the match vs. Liverpool and all of the games on the Black Cats’ USA Tour will help establish the identity of the club for the upcoming season.
“We need experiences against strong opponents,” he said, “That will be the case against Liverpool, Leeds United, and Wrexham later. It is really positive for us to experience a new situation like this in America. We speak mentality. At Sunderland, we will play against many great clubs, and it is always with this mindset. We have to work together and be fully aligned and give everything on the pitch, so playing with this mindset in Nashville is really positive.”
A Word From The CEO
Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan also met with the media and spoke about the Reds' USA Tour and the importance of connecting with the fan base in America.
“The US is a really important market from our perspective. A huge fan base here, over 26 million supporters of the club, which, I’m told, actually the only US sports team that has more fans is the LA Lakers. So, a pretty good indication of the popularity of the club. It’s our No.1 international retail market. We are the No.2 most-watched team in European football here in the US. So, the team is incredibly popular.
It’s an important market from our perspective. As we mentioned before, we’ve got a number of our partners that are here. And so, all of that kind of comes together to make it a super-important market from our perspective. And as we said before, great facilities, a great opportunity for us to engage with the fans, and a great spot for us to tour in. So, really excited to be here and excited to see all our fans here over the course of the next two weeks.”
Where To Watch
Kickoff is set for 5 PM Central Time from Nashville, with LFC Globe live on site to provide coverage along with post-match interviews and analysis.
| Match Info | UK Broadcast | US Broadcast | Canada Broadcast |
| Kick-off | 11:00 PM BST | 6:00 PM ET | 6:00 PM ET |
| TV Channel | None | None | None |
| Live Stream | All Red Video | All Red Video | All Red Video |
LFC Globe Verdict
As I said before, preseason friendlies mean different things to different clubs. For Sunderland, it’s about gaining new fans, name recognition, and getting a result against a big-name club. For Liverpool, it’s about saying thank you to the large fan base and giving supporters a chance to see the Reds live when they normally only watch on TV. It’s also about community outreach and growing the game overall. No matter how each team approaches this match, however, it should be a fun one.
Have Your Say
What do you hope the Reds accomplish tonight? Drop a comment below.