Ipswich Town vs Liverpool Premier League predictions and stats: The Arne Slot era begins
Ipswich mark their return to the Premier League against a Liverpool side embarking on a new era under new manager Arne Alot.
The Tractor Boys shocked everyone by finishing second in the Championship last season, earning a second straight promotion against the odds. Liverpool, meanwhile, ended Jurgen Klopp’s final year in charge in third while also lifting the EFL Cup.
Three predictions for Ipswich vs Liverpool
Ipswich 1-3 Liverpool (8/1 with Betano)
Liverpool have scored 12 goals in their last three matches against Ipswich, including a 5-0 and 6-0 victory back in 2002. The Reds are are unbeaten on MD1 in their last 11 seasons (W8 D3) since losing 3-0 to West Brom in 2012-13 in Brendan Rodgers’ first game in charge.
Mohamed Salah First Goalscorer (17/5 with Betano)
Mohamed Salah has scored in the opening game of the season in six of his seven seasons with Liverpool, only failing to find the back of the net last campaign against Chelsea.
No player in Premier League history has scored more goals on MD1 than Liverpool’s Mo Salah (8, level with Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney), while only Wayne Rooney (13 – 8 goals, 5 assists) has more goal involvements on the opening matchday in the competition than the Egyptian (12 – 8 goals, 4 assists).
BTTS (7/10 with Betano)
Liverpool have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games, but have scored 22 goals in that time. Ipswich meanwhile, have scored 222 league goals since Kieran McKenna took charge of the club for the first time in December 2021, with only Man City (239) scoring more league goals across England’s top four divisions in that time.
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How to watch Ipswich vs Liverpool live
Liverpool travel to face Ipswich in the dreaded 12:30pm (UK time) slot on Saturday, 17th August, with the game broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports 1.
How both teams go into Ipswich vs Liverpool
For the first time since 2015, Liverpool will be preparing for a Premier League game with someone other than Jurgen Klopp as their manager. Then, Brendan Rodgers was the man in charge, and now it’s Arne Slot taking hold of the reins. The Dutchman takes over a Liverpool side that finished third in the Premier League having fallen away in the title race, and there is a lot of talent on the books.
The main question for Slot will be whether he can build on that, keeping Liverpool as title contenders all while implementing his philosophy on the club. It will be a tough ask, but one many feel Slot is capable of. Liverpool have a good record on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, unbeaten in their past 12 such matches since losing 3-0 to West Brom to kick off the 2012/13 campaign.
For Ipswich, this game will officially mark their return to Premier League football for the first time in 22 years. The Tractor Boys were last in the Premier League in 2001/02, when they finished 18th — having secured a fifth-placed finish just one season earlier. After their relegation, Ipswich spent 17 years in the second tier, before being relegated further to League One.
Four years followed in the third tier before back-to-back promotions led Ipswich back to the promised land. To make things even better, Ipswich managed to hold onto Kieran McKenna despite interest from elsewhere, signing the boss on for a new four-year deal.
It’s hard to predict how either of these sides will look, with the game still over a month away. But towards the end of Jurgen Klopp’s time in charge, Liverpool were looking leaky defensively. Tactics will have certainly played a role, but Liverpool’s better defensive players were struggling for form at times. Ipswich also failed to score in just six games across all competitions last season.
Ipswich host Liverpool at 12:30pm (UK time) on Saturday, 17th August, at Portman Road.
Ipswich latest team news
As well as securing McKenna to a new deal, Ipswich also made Omari Hutchinson’s loan move from Chelsea permanent. Ben Johnson has also signed on a free transfer, while the squad has also been boosted by the arrivals of Arijanet Muric, Jacob Greaves and Liam Delap.
Harry Clarke, George Hirst, Nathan Broadhead and Janoi Donacien are sidelined for Ipswich, while Cameron Humphreys is a minor doubt.
Liverpool latest team news
Liverpool have said goodbye to Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip and Adrian this summer, though the trio hadn’t really been in the first team at the time of their departure. Slot operates a 4-3-3 as Klopp did, though there will be hopes that the personnel improves over the summer.
Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota will fight for the starting spot up top, while Luis Diaz is expected to start on the left after impressing in pre-season. Jarell Quansah looks set to get the nod at centre-back alongside the imperious Virgil van Dijk.
Dominik Szoboszlai is a minor fitness doubt but should be cleared for action, while Bobby Clark won’t feature as he nears a move to RB Salzburg.
Ipswich vs Liverpool head-to-head
Ipswich and Liverpool haven’t met since December 2002, in the EFL Cup just months after the Tractor Boys were relegated from the Premier League. Each of Ipswich’s last two victories against Liverpool have come at Anfield, though the Reds are unbeaten in the past four meetings.
| Ipswich vs Liverpool H2H | |||||||
| Date | Score | Ground | |||||
| 04/12/02 | Liverpool 1-1 Ipswich | Anfield, Liverpool | |||||
| 11/05/02 | Liverpool 5-0 Ipswich | Anfield, Liverpool | |||||
| 09/02/02 | Ipswich 0-6 Liverpool | Portman Road, Ipswich | |||||
| 10/04/01 | Ipswich 1-1 Liverpool | Portman Road, Ipswich | |||||
| 10/12/00 | Liverpool 0-1 Ipswich | Anfield, Liverpool | |||||
| 14/01/95 | Liverpool 0-1 Ipswich | Anfield, Liverpool | |||||
