What can Liverpool fans expect to see during their pre-season tour?

Liverpool fans are about to get their first taste of what life looks like under new head coach Andoni Iraola.

The Reds take on Sunderland on Saturday in Nashville at 5pm local time (11pm BST). The match against Regis le Bris' side will take place at Geodis Park - the home of Major League Soccer side Nashville SC.

After the death of Kevin Keegan earlier this week, the Liverpool and Sunderland players will wear black armbands and there will be a minute's applause before kick-off.

BBC Sport will be on the ground at each of Liverpool's three friendlies in the USA - with Iraola's side taking on Wrexham in New York and Leeds in Chicago next week. Here, we take a look at some of the key talking points.

Iraola already knows that he must deliver a brand of football that the fans can get behind.

Following the departure of Arne Slot, he will be well aware that the pressure will be there immediately at Liverpool.

"For me, now, it is about creating a very good team to beat, a very difficult team to beat," said Iraola. "The team that I envision now - that I see and think of - if we become that team, I think we are going to be successful.

"The most important thing that we can deliver is our performances. It doesn't matter if I speak well, if I don't speak well, if I say the right things or if I don't say the right things. At the end people just want to see the team play well and deliver good results. I know this is 90% of my job."

Come the start of the Premier League, it will all be about the results. In the here and now, the focus will be on how Liverpool play under their new head coach.

"It's a big step up from Bournemouth but he deserves it. He's got all the credentials to be a top Liverpool manager and I'm pretty certain he could be," Liverpool's record scorer Ian Rush told BBC Sport.

"His style of football fits with Liverpool. It will help with the supporters too. Perhaps with Slot, they were a bit more defensive but supporters want to get behind the team. They'll only get behind a team if you're attacking or high pressing. The atmosphere was subdued at stages last season. This is Liverpool and we want to play a high pressing game and we'll know in the next few days what that looks like."

There are still plenty of tickets left for Saturday even though the stadium holds around 30,000 fans and truth be told, it's hard to tell that Liverpool are coming to town. But here in the Music City, Iraola will know the importance of getting the team singing from the same hymn sheet from the outset.

Liverpool have 32 players out in America, though a handful have only travelled as it was felt best for them to carry on their individual rehabilitation with the squad than at an empty training ground back home.

With the World Cup this summer, it's understandable that some key names are still missing, though Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch will link up with the squad for the second week of the training camp.

Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz will be the final players to join up with the squad. Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson will not travel.

On the whole, those inside the camp over the first few weeks of pre-season have spoken of a positive and youthful vibe.

"Szoboszlai and Kerkez haven't been to the World Cup and I can tell you this from experience because I never went to the World Cup: those players have had a long rest and they'll be desperate to get back into it," said Rush.

Harvey Elliott is back in the squad after his loan at Aston Villa, and eagle-eyed fans will have noticed that Stefan Bajcetic rejoined team training yesterday. The Spanish midfielder last played a game for the club in 2024.

Iraola is keen to have a look at all of his options but either way, this squad needs strengthening before the Premier League starts.

The club knew back in March, if not earlier, that Mohamed Salah was leaving and he still hasn't been replaced.

Liverpool want a winger and Bradley Barcola seems the most likely option but, for now, 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha has been training on his versatility across both flanks and will be an option down the right, as well as his preferred left.

There is no doubt about Ngumoha's talent but expect Liverpool to make a signing in that department this summer.

"He's still young, but, as the manager has said, we need someone to replace Salah and that won't be easy at all," says Rush. "We've got Isak, who played well in the World Cup, and I hope he comes back as a new player and looking to prove a thing or two after last season."

Across the next week or so, fans can also expect to see more of Kieran Morrison, 19, who made his debut last season, as well as Will Wright, 18, and Josh Sonni-Lambie, 18. Keep an eye out too for 16-year-old Josh Abe, who is widely regarded as one of the hottest young prospects in English football.

Speaking in Chicago earlier in the week, Iraola admitted that his squad was "thin" defensively.

After playing every minute of Liverpool's Premier League campaign last season then captaining his country at the World Cup, skipper Van Dijk is not on the pre-season tour and will instead report back for duty at the AXA Training Centre next week.

That means that the most senior centre-back option in America will be Joe Gomez and he is set to be partnered by Jeremy Jacquet, who Liverpool signed from Rennes in a deal worth £60m.

Liverpool see the 21-year-old as someone capable of playing first-team football from the outset and the games over the next week will give an early indication of how accurate that judgement is.

Another young and highly rated centre-half, Geovanni Leoni, 19, is out in the USA but is continuing his recovery from an ACL tear with individual training. Ifeanyi Ndukwe, 18, is another option and so is Mor Talla Ndiaye, 18, who has now joined up with the squad after a visa issue delayed his travel.

Left-back is covered with both Kerkez and Kostas Tsimikas available, but right-back is another area of concern, with Conor Bradley set to miss the opening months of the season as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Iraola is content with his goalkeeping options. Like Van Dijk, Alisson won't travel out to the USA and Iraola is happy with Giorgi Mamardashvili as the other option. Meanwhile, Freddie Woodman signed a new deal on Thursday.