Two games into the new Premier League season and Ipswich Town have something that Liverpool do not: a win.
Fresh from promotion, Ipswich Town opened the campaign with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Sunderland and followed that with a 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Leicester. They were also 1-0 up at Old Trafford in their second Premier League start before some vulnerabilities were exposed as they crashed to a 5-2 loss.
Liverpool have trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in both games so far. An injury-time equaliser from Dominik Szoboszlai at Newcastle and a thumping late strike from summer signing Victor Munoz secured 2-2 draws, but two points from six isn’t the start new boss Andoni Iraola wanted. It all means Ipswich start the game in 12th, one spot above the 13th-placed Reds.
Ipswich Town v Liverpool kick-off time
Ipswich Town v Liverpool kicks off at 8pm BST on Friday, September 4 at Portman Road.
Ipswich Town v Liverpool how to watch
The game will be shown live in the UK via Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting from 7pm.
TalkSPORT will provide full match commentary.
Ipswich Town team news
Ipswich Town are likely to play the 4-2-3-1 formation that secured victory over Sunderland in their Portman Road opener.
The only real doubt is striker Emersson, who jarred his knee and came off at half-time against Manchester United. Jack Clarke or Sindre Walle Egeli are the two vying to replace him.
Zian Flemming is another option up front, although he is more likely to start on the bench after his deadline day move from Burnley.
Jaden Philogene (foot/ankle) and Jack Taylor (knee) are both ruled out, but Florentino Luis (calf) and Azor Matusiwa (thigh) could be named in the matchday squad.
Liverpool team news
It wasn’t the transfer window Liverpool fans wanted but they did at least pull off one star signing with Bradley Barcola coming in from PSG for huge money. He’s declared himself ready to play but the bench looks most likely for the flying Frenchman given his lack of pre-season action.
Beyond that, it looks likely that Iraola will field the same starting XI that drew with Nottingham Forest last week. That means Cody Gakpo and Victor Munoz being handed the winger roles.
Ryan Gravenberch may have to settle for a place on the bench again with Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister getting the nod in midfield. That’s unless Iraola chooses to switch Szoboszlai to right-back in place of the unconvincing Jeremie Frimpong.
Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni remain long-term absentees while Joe Gomez still isn’t ready to return.
Ipswich v Liverpool odds
Liverpool, who won 2-0 at Portman Road on their last visit (opening game of the 2024/25 season), are 8/15 to bag their first victory of the season.
Ipswich are 9/2 while The Draw is 7/2.
Liverpool have drifted out to 16/1 to win the title while Ipswich are 5/4 for relegation.
Ipswich v Liverpool prediction
Ipswich managed just one home win out of 19 when they were last in the Premier League two seasons ago so they’ve already matched that tally!
But Gary O’Neil’s men have never beaten Liverpool in the Premier League at Portman Road, while more damning is the stat that they’ve kept just one clean sheet in their last 36 top-flight games.
This is a great chance for Liverpool to get off the mark and it’s worth noting that they did have 27 shots and 36 touches in the opposition box at Newcastle despite having to rescue a draw.
Cody Gakpo looked set to depart Anfield in the transfer window but a move didn’t materialise, and that means he’s worth a bet to continue his strong start to the season. So far he’s scored at Newcastle and set up Alexander Isak’s equaliser against Forest.
Gakpo to score anytime in a Liverpool win pays 11/4.
Those who want to jump straight onto the Bradley Barcola train can back him at 17/5 to register an assist and 7/4 to score. It’s worth waiting for team news though.
A third straight 2-2 draw for Liverpool is 14/1.
