Two new eras begin at Portman Road on Saturday lunchtime, when Ipswich Town and Liverpool begin their respective Premier League campaigns in the 12.30pm kickoff.
As the Tractor Boys prepare to end their lengthy exile from the top flight of English football, the Reds gear up for their first competitive match under the wing of Arne Slot.
Match preview
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A penny for Jurgen Klopp's thoughts as Liverpool were given the first 12.30pm kickoff of the new season - the German often had a bone to pick with the fixture organisers when his side were given the early slot - but he can now kick back and watch Saturday's contest as a fan while Slot rallies his troops in the morning.
It has been almost seven months since Klopp dropped the unexpected bombshell that the 2023-24 campaign would be his last at Anfield, and while he left with another EFL Cup winners' medal around his neck, Premier League supremacy proved a step too far.
Nevertheless, ex-Feyenoord boss Slot - whom Tottenham Hotspur tried and failed to hire in 2023 - will be guiding the Reds back into the promised land of the Champions League this season, albeit in its new-look format, and the new manager bounce was seemingly in full effect in pre-season.
Despite commencing their summer with a shock 1-0 loss to Preston North End behind closed doors, Liverpool subsequently won four on the spin against revered opposition in Real Betis, Arsenal, Manchester United and Sevilla, before a low-key goalless draw with Las Palmas at an empty Anfield.
While Slot has already laid down a few markers this summer, the same cannot be said of Liverpool's transfer gurus, as impatient Reds fans are still awaiting their first new arrival of the summer while the sporting team prioritise the contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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In stark contrast, many a new face has filtered in through the Portman Road doors following Ipswich's second successive promotion, as the 2022-23 League One runners-up came within a whisker of pipping Leicester City to Championship glory last season.
A second-placed ranking was still sufficient to propel the Tractor Boys back into the top flight 22 years on from their most recent Premier League foray, having competed exclusively in the lower tiers ever since their demotion in the 2001-02 campaign.
The sterling work of head coach Kieran McKenna supposedly saw some of the Premier League's big boys come calling, namely Chelsea and Manchester United, but the 38-year-old rejected the chance to move up the footballing ladder in favour of penning a new Portman Road contract.
Akin to upcoming foes Liverpool, Ipswich's pre-season preparations were overwhelmingly positive, as McKenna oversaw a trio of 1-0 victories over Shakhtar Donetsk, Hoffenheim and Nice, with the only blot being a 2-1 beating at the hands of Fortuna Dusseldorf.
While Ipswich's summer contests were mostly low-scoring, 222 goals since McKenna took charge in December 2021 puts them second in England's top four divisions since that month, only behind Manchester City's 239. On the other side of the coin, however, their two meetings with Liverpool in the 2001-02 Premier League season ended with the Tractor Boys shipping 11 across 180 minutes, suffering an embarrassing 6-0 slaughter at Portman Road.
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Team News
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Liverpool were seemingly set to travel to Ipswich with just one injury concern in the shape of Bobby Clark (back), but the teenage midfielder is now believed to be on the brink of joining Pep Lijnders's Red Bull Salzburg in a £10m deal.
As a result, Arne Slot ought to have all of his troops available for his Premier League baptism, as Andrew Robertson returned from his Euro 2024 injury to play an hour of the draw with Las Palmas, so the Scotsman should be fine to bomb down the left here.
Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are also nailed-on starters despite their contract situations, but there have been claims that Slot is not too keen on Ibrahima Konate, who started the Las Palmas friendly while Jarell Quansah was given the nod in front of the crowd against Sevilla.
On the other hand, the Ipswich medical team are nursing a few players back to full health in Harry Clarke (Achilles), George Hirst (knee), Nathan Broadhead (thigh) and Janoi Donacien (adductor), while Cameron Humphreys (unspecified) is a major doubt.
No fewer than 11 new players have arrived at Portman Road on permanent deals this summer, and at least a handful should come straight into the first XI here, including Arijanet Muric, Liam Delap, Jacob Greaves and ex-Arsenal and Chelsea youngster Omari Hutchinson.
The Tractor Boys also announced the permanent capture of Sammie Szmodics and loan arrival of Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips on Friday, but it remains to be seen whether they were registered in time for the weekend.
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Muric; Tuanzebe, Edmundson, Greaves; Johnson, Luongo, Morsy, Davis; Hutchinson, Delap, Harness
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jota, Diaz
We say: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool
Ipswich switching to a three-man central defensive shape in order to stifle Slot's Liverpool is not beyond the realm of possibility, but the full-strength Reds are sure to wear down their hosts' backline eventually.
While McKenna's men should still keep the scoreline respectable, having demonstrated their defensive prowess in pre-season, we can only envisage Liverpool heading back up north with their first three points of the Slot era.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
