Liverpool’s new era under manager Arne Slot will begin with a match against newly promoted Ipswich Town in the Premier League opener on Saturday (17/8) evening IST at Portmand Road.
Kieran McKenna left Manchester United to do a fantastic job with Ipswich Town, taking his side back-to-back promotions from League One and now into the Premier League.
In the 2023/2024 season, the Tractor Boys (96 points) were only one point behind champions Leicester City (97 points), but that was enough to earn them promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
It is no surprise that such success saw Kieran McKenna linked with interest from Chelsea, and even Manchester United, before he ultimately decided to stay at Portmand Road.
Now, he will prepare to lead his team into the Premier League’s top flight with a tough home game against Liverpool, who will begin their new era under Arne Slot.
Jurgen Klopp has decided to leave Anfield after almost nine years in charge, and the new Dutch coach has shown signs of promise during pre-season.
Despite not having any new players, Liverpool have managed to show satisfactory results in pre-season, including wins over two Premier League rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United.
However, Arne Slot’s concentration in welcoming his first season on Merseyside may be slightly disturbed by the uncertainty of the future of the key trio of players, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold who have not yet renewed their contracts which will expire next year.
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Head to Head
10 December 2000, Liverpool 0-1 Ipswich Town (Premier League)
10 April 2001, Ipswich Town 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
9 February 2002, Ipswich Town 0-6 Liverpool (Premier League)
11 May 2002, Liverpool 5-0 Ipswich Town (Premier League)
4 December 2002, Liverpool 1-1 Ipswich Town (League Cup)
Prediction
The last time the two teams met was in 2002, which was also Ipswich Town’s final year in the Premier League. However, the two teams actually have quite a long history in head-to-head matches.
Since their first meeting in December 1954, the two teams have met 72 times in all competitions, with Liverpool holding a commanding advantage with 37 wins to Ipswich Town’s 14.
The Tractor Boys have been hugely prolific since Kieran McKenna took over in December 2021, scoring 222 goals in total, and to put that into perspective, only Manchester City (239 goals) have scored more than them during that period out of all English teams in the top four league divisions.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have enjoyed an impressive start to life under new manager Arne Slot, including convincing wins over Arsenal, Manchester United and Sevilla.
Arne Slot will be looking to win his competitive debut as Liverpool manager and he should do just that in this one. Score: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool.
Ipswich Town vs Liverpool Live Streaming, where to watch in india, Schedule, Live Broadcast and Live Streaming
Competition: Premier League
Match: Ipswich Town vs Liverpool
Stadium: Portman Road
Day, date: Saturday, August 17, 2024
Time: 5:00 PM IST
Live broadcast: Star Sports Select 2
Live streaming: Hotstar