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57 min: Kerkez slides in recklessly on Fatawu, and that’s a no-brainer of a booking. Liverpool suddenly look a little ragged, and panicky at the back.
56 min: Fatawu cuts in from the right and curls towards the top left. Well wide, and Alisson had it covered. But Ipswich are threatening to get back into this game.
55 min: Scherpen dallies with the ball at his feet, then miscontrols, and is fortunate not to be closed down by Munoz.
53 min: Munoz skedaddles down the right but he’s quickly surrounded by five players. Ipswich counter, and Jacquet once again catches Emersonn. That could easily have been a second booking in as many minutes, but the referee shows the young man some mercy. Lucky Jacquet.
52 min: Szoboszlai curls in from the right. If Wirtz controls, he’s shooting from six yards. He doesn’t control and Diop clears. Emersonn challenges for a high ball on the halfway line, and is high-kicked for his trouble by Jacquet, who goes into the book.
51 min: Liverpool enjoy some sterile midfield domination. Arne Slot would have been proud. Meanwhile Andrew Goudie, of half-time postbag fame, has got Jon Taylor reminiscing: “There were a few games in the 90s when Jan Molby played central midfield alongside John Barnes in his late-era, deep-lying and decidedly-less-svelte years. The two of them sat in the centre circle dictating play: it was like watching a binary solar system with two suns and the rest of the players orbiting around them.”
49 min: All a bit scrappy at the moment. In lieu of anything exciting happening, Kerkez celebrates winning a throw like he’s just scored from 30 yards.
47 min: Szoboszlai delivers from the right. Mac Allister, free six yards out, flaps a weak header goalwards. Easy for Scherpen. Mac Allister should have done so much better.
46 min: Mac Allister and Van Dijk confuse each other, nearly allowing Enciso to romp clear. Alisson comes out of his goal to whack clear. Up the other end, Wirtz shoots from the edge of the D, and his shot is deflected wide right for the first corner of the second half.
Ipswich get the second half started. No changes as of yet.
Half-time postbag. “xG is one of those analytics stats that has breached containment and is now polluting football discourse. Unfortunately, like pollution, it’s difficult to clear up once it’s out there so we now have to live with it. More seriously, it’s only really meaningful over the long term. If a term is outperforming its xG, then it’s really taking its chances, but if it’s underperforming, then it needs to work on its finishing. In a single game, it tells you very little. As a statistic, it’s better than shots on target, as it at least tries to take into account the quality of them, but that’s a really low bar to get over” – Andy (Not That One) Flintoff
“I’ve been trying to squeeze ‘No 6 collaborations project’ into a reply to Peter Oh (17 min) which is still relevant to the match, but I’ve got nothing. I will be watching closely at the end though to see if Issa Diop and Milos Kerkez have a long chat. You never know” – Rob K
“All the palaver over Mike Dean this week reminded me that the great Jan Molby didn’t leave the centre circle for years” – Andrew Goudie
“Gakpo and Isak. Shall we call this partnership GakSak?” – Paul Waite
“Good to see Isak reviving Suarez’s beef with all things East Anglian” – Ian Copestake
HALF TIME: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool
Ipswich have responded well to the early double whammy administered by Alexander Isak … but Liverpool are nevertheless in control at the break.
45 min +1: The game suddenly slips into Basketball Mode. Gakpo tears down the left but can’t find Wirtz with a poor pass infield; Palacios quick-breaks, but clanks his opportunity to release Fatawu down the right straight to Mac Allister. Both teams frustrated, Liverpool especially so as Fatawu had clipped Gakpo with the ball gone, just inside the area. But you’re rarely getting a penalty kick for that.
45 min: … Gakpo batters clear. There will be two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: The corner takes a while, because the referee allows Davis to retie his boot. When it eventually comes in, it’s Jacquet’s turn to slice a clearance, and Emersonn forces a corner that’ll come in from the right. Fatawu takes, and …
42 min: When the free kick’s finally taken, Kerkez crosses from the left. Jacquet cushions the ball into the road of Wirtz, who carefully threads a shot towards the bottom right. But there’s no real pace on the ball, and it’s easy for the keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Davis crossing from the left, and Araujo carelessly shins a clearance backwards and out for a corner.
41 min: Gakpo is skittled 40 yards out. Mac Allister tries to take a quick free kick, only for Enciso to step in the road. He’s booked for delaying the restart.
40 min: Szoboszlai, in space on the right, has the option of releasing Munoz into even more space … but opts to shoot instead. Scherpen once again parries clear. He’s had a busy – and mixed – evening so far.
38 min: Alisson launches long. Diop misjudges, nearly letting Isak in on goal, but Greaves comes across to help the ball back to his keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Enciso looking for the top-right corner from distance. He slices miles wide. It’s been a pretty open, easy-on-the-eye game.
36 min: Liverpool coach Tommy Elphick is booked for telling it as he sees it.
35 min: Maeda probes down the inside-left but Jacquet doesn’t give him much room to work with, and the eventual shot dribbles through to Alisson.
34 min: Just before that disallowed goal, Emersonn gently nudged Van Dijk off balance while the defender was in mid air, and the Liverpool captain landed awkwardly. It should have been a foul, but the referee didn’t blow. Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Gakpo not happy with the official. Thankfully there’s no harm done.
33 min: Wirtz turns down the inside-left channel into space, then rolls infield for Isak, who opens his body and calmly slots into the bottom right. But the flag goes up for offside, correctly so. It was close, though.
31 min: Wirtz tees up Mac Allister, just outside the Ipswich D. Mac Allister pings a rising shot over the bar. Not by much, though Scherpen had it covered.
30 min: Enciso nearly beats Mac Allister in a foot race down the inside-right channel. But not quite. Instead he crosses, looking for Maeda, who is denied by Araujo, who slices clear. Then Fatawu crosses from the right, Davis heading harmlessly over the bar from close range. Ipswich are knocking on the door, all of a sudden.
28 min: The xG at the moment: Ipswich 0.36, Liverpool 0.35. Have to admit, it’s not always the easiest stat to understand.
27 min: From the left, Lukic whips Ipswich’s first corner of the evening to the near post. Alisson comes to punch and misses the ball altogether. He’s very fortunate that it hits Gakpo and drops back to him in an otherwise crowded six-yard box. That wasn’t exactly authoritative.
26 min: Fatawu runs at Kerkez again. He crosses long for Davis, who heads back from the byline. Emersson shapes to shoot, six yards out, but Jacquet pops up to deflect out for a corner. From which …
24 min: Szoboszlai snaffles possession, exchanges passes with Wirtz, and peals a shot towards the bottom right. Scherpen parries clear again, but not wholly convincingly. Liverpool dominating and in search of a third.
22 min: Munoz probes down the right; Wirtz down the left. Liverpool beginning to apply some pressure again. “I’ll admit that I have the memory of a gnat, but I’m genuinely shocked by how well Isak took these goals,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Which I shouldn’t’ve been, since those sorts of goals were the reason why Liverpool handed over the oversized novelty check.”
20 min: … but they’d better not concede another, and this time Fatawu’s loose pass near his own box finds Szoboszlai, who whistles a shot towards the bottom left. Scherpen is up to the task this time, and with a strong hand turns the ball out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
19 min: It looks like Fatawu fancies himself against Kerkez down the Ipswich right. He pushes the defender back towards his box before crossing for Enciso, whose shot dribbles through to Alisson. Ipswich are not without hope when they go forward.
17 min: Munoz bursts into space from deep at high speed. He nearly runs past everyone, in a straight line, but Diop comes across to intercept. Had the defender not been on point, the road-running Munoz was clean through. Meanwhile here’s Peter Oh responding to the gauntlet (sort of) thrown down by Rob Knap (8 min): “Is Ed Sheeran in the house? Liverpool’s signings will ÷ opinion and x social media-fuelled armchair rants. I sure hope there’s a + side to spending so much on Barcola and Araújo. I’m not sure that the latter at right back adds up, although I’d love to be proven wrong. Subtract nothing from Liverpool, but Ipswich will see themselves as = on the pitch.”
15 min: That’s also two assists for Gakpo, of course, a man so nearly bundled out of the door during the transfer window. Penny for the thoughts of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City right now.
13 min: Greaves crosses from the left and Emersonn heads harmlessly over the bar from close range. Turns out he was offside anyway, but Ipswich have responded to conceding the second goal rather better than they did the first.
12 min: That’s now six career goals for Isak against Ipswich. He’s only just into his third meeting with them. Two minutes and 46 seconds elapsed between his latest two.
11 min: Fatawu drives at Kerkez down the right, drifts infield, and looks for the top-left corner with a rising curler. Over the bar, but not by much. Alisson would have had work to do had it been on target.
10 min: Mac Allister goes into the book for clipping the heel of Enciso. So not the perfect start for Liverpool.
GOAL! Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool (Isak 9)
What a start to the game for Alexander Isak! He chases Gakpo’s fine outside-of-foot pass down the left. He enters the box, twists Greaves’ blood and rolls the ball into the bottom left!
8 min: Scherpen might have done better with that. But Isak gave his shot plenty of juice. No doubt the keeper will get pelters, but put it this way: it’d have been a fine save had he managed to stop that fierce drive. Meanwhile here’s Rob Knap on the pre-match postbag comment from Niall Mullen about Barcola: “Not quite Peter Oh standards, but it could’ve been Wirtz.”
GOAL! Ipswich Town 0-1 Liverpool (Isak 6)
… Alisson punches clear. Liverpool fly up the other end, Gakpo cutting in from the left and looking for Isak down the inside-right channel. Isak enters the box and powers a shot towards the bottom right. Scherpen gets a hand on the ball, but only diverts it upwards and into the roof of the net. Power wins out!
5 min: Greaves rolls a pass down the left touchline for Davis, who can’t get past Araujo. Liverpool’s stand-in right-back nearly runs the ball out for a goal kick but eventually half-clears. Wirtz competes with Enciso and tugs his man. A free kick to Ipswich, who load the box. Fatawu delivers, and …
4 min: It’s all Liverpool in these extremely early stages. Ipswich have hardly had a touch. The lively Munoz twists his way past Palacios down the right but can’t repeat the trick with Greaves, who shepherds the ball back to Scherpen in the Ipswich goal.
2 min: …nothing much occurs. Szoboszlai’s delivery no good.
1 min: Munoz backs himself in a foot race against Davis down the right and wins the first corner of the evening. From which …
Liverpool get the ball rolling. Portman Road roars. “Well, Liverpool are on for 38 points, which should hopefully keep them up,” chirps Matt Dony. “It’s as positive as I get these days. Sigh.”
The teams are out! Ipswich in blue, Liverpool in red. A wonderful start-of-the-weekend, possibly-a-few-pints-to-the-good atmosphere under the lights at Portman Road! Not long now. In the meantime, here’s Dave Estherby with some pre-match words of encouragement for Liverpool: “Not really sure what’s going on upstairs at Anfield. Another summer where they’ve spaffed money up the wall for unproven PL players without realising they need a goalkeeper, two full backs, a centre half, two forwards, a winger and a replacement for whatever Mac Allister is supposed to do. AND back up for Ekitike who probably won’t play until the new year at least. Shambles. I feel sorry for Iraola, he couldn’t really turn them down but it might end up a backwards step.”
Pre-match postbag. “Leaving aside Liverpool’s less than imperial start to the season, you have to admit that’s a very tasty teamsheet on offer tonight - the right blend of youth, experience, Hungary’s answer to Bryan Robson and a World Cup winner in the middle of the park, a striker coveted by Man City, a Champions League winner on the bench and in Wirtz our very own Juan Sebastian Veron!” – Peadar de Burca
“Why’s Wataru Endo still at Liverpool? He’s 33 and hardly played last season under Slot. Iraola hasn’t included him in the Champions League roster so apparently he doesn’t think much more of him that Slot did. He’s got a good couple of years left in him as a DM somewhere” – Tony Hughes
“I’m worried that Liverpool’s new signing might not be aggressive enough for the league. I hear his Barcola is worse than his bite-ola” – Niall Mullen
It’s a proper mid-table clash tonight: 12th versus 13th. Tonight’s winner will almost certainly end the evening in fifth place; should the game end in a draw, Ipswich will make it into the top half of the table, while Liverpool would rise to 11th. All to play for!
(The usual po-faced early-season caveats apply, but where’s the harm in it?)
Gary O’Neil’s turn to speak to Sky Sports. “[The first half at Old Trafford] gives us a big belief that we can compete at this level … the home win against Sunderland was huge for us … we don’t really focus on outcome or results, we just try to commit to being the best version of ourselves all the time … we drifted away from that because of things that happened in the game [at Old Trafford] … it is important that we are better than that … we will be tested tonight, I am sure something will go against us … we can’t go toe to toe … we need to pick our moments … that will be really important for us … you need to be good with the ball … you can’t hang in there for 38 games of a Premier League season … I’m looking forward to it … let’s see if we can please this incredible place again … we’re ready … the group are in a great spot.”
More from Iraola on Sky. “It’s not the results you want, the two draws … we have also been losing both games … always from behind … when you start well, everything looks better … we will try not to concede goals from throw-ins like the other day … offensively the team is doing well but we are not getting the win … Alex [Isak] is feeling comfortable after a difficult season … it’s a good start for him … Ipswich at home is very strong … at Old Trafford they played a fantastic first half … they are doing well … [we need] to start stronger.”
Sky Sports anchor Kelly Cates asks Andoni Iraola whether he was tempted to start Bradley Barcola. “Yes … honestly I was tempted … he has looked good training … but it’s true that he hasn’t played any minutes in pre-season … he is ready … I think definitely we will use him in the second half … but also with some precaution because we do not want to lose him straight away … it makes sense, no, to have him on the bench … he is a smart player … he understands the game … he is quite shy, he doesn’t speak a lot … improving his English … he has his friends with him [Jeremy Jacquet and Hugo Ekitike] who he is more comfortable with … but he has been really good for the first week … I hope he does well straight away.”
Portman Road has become something of a fortress for Ipswich. They’re unbeaten in 18 league games at home. Seventeen of those matches were in the Championship, admittedly, but you can only deal with what’s put in front of you. Liverpool meanwhile haven’t won any of their last six Premier League fixtures, a run that stretches back to April. They’ll be hoping Alexander Isak’s personal form against Ipswich – he’s scored four in just two games, all for Newcastle United – will help them snap that sequence.
Ipswich Town make one change to the side sent out to start the 5-2 defeat at Manchester United. Exequiel Palacios, making his full debut for the Tractor Boys, replaces Marcelino Núñez in midfield. Zian Flemming, the new man in from Burnley, is on the bench.
Liverpool also make one change from their last match, the 2-2 draw at Anfield with Nottingham Forest. Ronald Araújo replaces Jeremie Frimpong at right-back. The new £106m signing Bradley Barcola is named as a substitute.
The teams
Ipswich Town: Scherpen, O’Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis, Lukic, Palacios, Fatawu, Enciso, Maeda, Emersonn.
Subs: Walton, Furlong, Kipre, Ouattara, Florentino, Nunez, McAteer, Clarke, Flemming.
Liverpool: Alisson, Araujo, van Dijk, Jacquet, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Munoz, Isak, Gakpo.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Endo, Tsimikas, Barcola, Frimpong, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Koumas, Ngumoha.
Referee: Darren England
VAR: Nicholas Hopton
Preamble
Ipswich Town were spanked 5-2 at Old Trafford last weekend, though the bald result doesn’t tell the whole story. Gary O’Neil’s newly promoted side were giving as good as they got until Harlem Globetrotters centre-back Harry Maguire hit paydirt, after which they could be forgiven for concluding it just wasn’t going to be their day. So chalk up just over one-and-a-half satisfying performances from two for the Tractor Boys, whose opening-day win over Sunderland means they’ve already notched as many top-flight home victories this season as they did in the whole of their disastrous 2023-24 campaign. They should be feeling pretty good about themselves.
Liverpool on the other hand were borderline abysmal at Newcastle, and not much better in the first half last weekend against Nottingham Forest. Their second-half display at Anfield, plus improved overall contributions from Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz, plus the mega-money signing of Bradley Barcola, should give them succour after consecutive 2-2 draws which have made life for new boss Andoni Iraola more awkward than is strictly necessary.
Given all of the above, would a shock Ipswich win this evening really be that much of a shock? On the other hand, Liverpool have won their last four Premier League matches against Ipswich to the cumulative tune of 17-1. How much importance should be placed on a record that stretches back to the days of Abel Xavier and Emile Heskey is a moot point, but it’s something Ipswich will doubtless consider nevertheless. So this is poised rather deliciously. We’ll start finding out what’s what from 8pm BST. It’s on!
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