Ipswich Town vs Liverpool. Premier League.
Portman RoadAttendance30,014.
Report and match highlights as goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah reward an ultimately-comfortable exercise for Arne Slot; Ipswich - back in the Premier League for the first time in 22 years - show plenty of promise, especially before the break
Saturday 17 August 2024 18:59, UK
Arne Slot made it a winning start to his Liverpool tenure as his side turned on the style in the second half to beat Ipswich Town 2-0.
Kieran McKenna's newly-promoted side restricted Liverpool to no shots on target in the first 45 minutes as their intensity and pressing made life hard for the Reds, but the difference in class soon shone through after the break.
Diogo Jota scored the first Premier League goal of the Slot era when gobbling up an expert pass from Mohamed Salah on 60 minutes before Salah got his own five minutes later and became the outright top scorer in Premier League opening-day matches with nine goals.
Ipswich were back in the top flight for the first time in 22 years after back-to-back promotions under McKenna, who signed a new deal at the club in the summer. The hosts played with vigour and organisation in the first half in front of a buoyant Portman Road crowd.
Quality openings were few and far between though with a lightning-quick counter-attack providing the best opportunity which ended with Omari Hutchinson's low strike being routine enough for Alisson.
Liverpool, who finished third in Jurgen Klopp's last season, went up a level after the break with Jota able to force the opener on the hour mark following an assist by Salah. Jota had inexplicably headed wide in the 59th minute from a wonderful Trent Alexander-Arnold delivery but redeemed himself 60 seconds afterwards with a typically tidy finish.
Five minutes later it was 2-0 when Virgil van Dijk picked out Salah, who exchanged passes with Dominik Szoboszlai before steering a low finish home. That was one of 15 shots Liverpool attempted in a completely dominant second half where the task facing McKenna and his team this season was laid bare.
It is Manchester City away next for Ipswich.
Liverpool boss Slot speaking at his press conference:
"I have to give credit to Ipswich as they were aggressive and not afraid all over the pitch, they won more second balls and duels in the first half. That's why it was an equal. In the second half we won more duels and played the ball in behind. When teams play the risk of playing one-vs-one, when you have Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota we had to use them - we did that better in the second half.
"I said to them at half-time if you want to win here you have to win your duels and make it a fight. Ibou [Konate] helped us as he won his duels straight away against the number nine and that gave us ball possession - we should have scored more than two goals.
"Jurgen [Klopp] hated the 12.30pm kick-off and we played like we hated the 12.30pm kick-off as we weren't in the game in the first half. People told me there were no easy games in the Premier League and that showed today. Ipswich made it so difficult for us in the first half and there's more of that to come.
"It wasn't the first time in nine years that Liverpool have played well. I've inherited a really good team with great individuals. The players have to understand it wasn't enough in the first half. If they play at their maximum capacity then they can be really good. It was good to see the goals we scored."
Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:
Slot revealed the away dressing room at Portman Road was not a happy place at half-time.
The 45-year-old, taking charge of his first Premier League game, saw his Liverpool team fail to hit the intensity levels required to win in the division - no matter the opposition. Ipswich were brave, bold and aggressive as their in-your-face approach was not matched by the visitors. He was not impressed - and let his players know.
Of the 53 duels that were competed in the first 45 minutes, Ipswich won 58 per cent of them.
A high percentage of those duels were being won by Ipswich centre-forward Liam Delap, who gave Jarell Quansah a tough time. Slot spotted that issue and wasted no time in replacing Quansah at the break with Ibrahima Konate - it was not an injury-related substitution, it was purely tactical.
The Frenchman's power and influence helped Liverpool regain control by stopping the flow into Delap and provided the launchpad for their second-half performance to rocket. Konate helped their duels-won ratio leap to 55 per cent after the break.
A haul of 2.61 expected goals from 15 shots in the second half, 13 of them from inside the box resulted in two goals and three points for Slot as Liverpool's tactic of exploiting Ipswich's very risky game of one-on-one defending up against Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah was exposed. It was a very encouraging start for the new boss.
