Liverpool news: Andoni Iraola dealt injury blow as Reds boss delivers Joe Gomez update

Liverpool defender Joe Gomez is expected to miss the start of the Premier League season with a muscle injury.

The centre-backhas struggled with fitness over the last couple of years, and he suffered his latest setback in the 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville.

Gomez was forced off after just eight minutes of last Saturday's victory, with Iraola later stating that it was the "worst news" to lose the 29-year-old to injury at such an early stage of pre-season.

Iraola has now revealed that it will be "impossible" for Gomez to return in time for Liverpool's Premier League opener against Newcastle United at St James' on August 23.

Gomez to miss start of Premier League season

"Joe has a muscle injury. It was quite clear since he complained straight away, so he will be off for some weeks," Iraola told reporters on Thursday.

"It's a muscle injury. It's difficult to say - normally one month. If it goes very well, then a little bit less. If it goes bad, then a bit more, but it's a muscle injury.

"It's not massive. I think it will be impossible to have him at the start of the season because we are not that far, but it shouldn't be much more."

Having been ruled out of the season opener, Gomez is in a race against time to recover for Liverpool's first home match of the campaign against Nottingham Forest on August 29.

Iraola praises young defenders for pre-season performances

Iraola had to field a youthful centre-back pairing of Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Luke Chambers for Wednesday's 1-0 win over Wrexham due to the absences of Gomez, Giovanni, Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk, the latter of whom has been on his post-World Cup break.

The Liverpool boss has heaped praise on his young defenders for stepping up in the club's pre-season tour of the USA.

“You have seen these games, we are pretty thin in the centre-back position,” Iraola added.

“We still don’t have Virgil. The only real centre-backs we have right now are Mor [Talla Ndiaye] and Ify, that are 18 years old, just arrived to the club, and they are doing incredibly well.

“Yesterday [Wednesday], Luke Chambers played there, he is not a centre-back but he played really well. We have to until we recover some bodies.

“I think Jeremy is ready to go, and we will recover Virgil, but I’m happy that playing against Sunderland, against Wrexham, good teams with 18-year-old centre-backs, the team has showed composure and solidity at the back and that speaks very well about them.”

Having recovered from a shoulder injury, Jacquet could make his first Liverpool appearance in Sunday's friendly against Leeds United in Chicago.