25 January 2025
Liverpool 4 Ipswich Town 1
Arne Slot’s side welcomed lowly Ipswich Town to Anfield. The visitors had been on the end of a six-nil drubbing at home against Man City in their last match. Not many predicted an outcome any better than that for Kieran McKenna’s side. If the Tractor Boys were to cause an upset, they were going to have to hope The Reds were to have a major off-day.
Despite his heroics last weekend, Nunez had to accept another start on the bench. It shows that his manager sees him more of an impact player in his plans. It did not take the hosts long to get into their stride. Gakpo received the ball out wide and immediately cut inside onto his stronger foot. The Dutch attacker fired a shot off but it was always rising over the bar.
Konate then played a sublime pass forward. Szoboszlai took it in his path and skipped past O’Shea. The Hungarian struck a left-footed shot into the bottom corner to send Anfield wild. It was a great strike from the Liverpool midfielder. You felt at this stage that it was going to be a long afternoon for the Tractor Boys. The Reds were looking in the mood to score goals.
There was a lengthy stoppage as Burns seemed to injure his knee in a challenge. The Ipswich player was stretchered off with the whole stadium applauding him. It would suggest that he could be inline for a lengthy spell on the sidelines as a result. This was turning into somewhat of a nightmare for McKenna, just as well that transfer window remains open if reinforcements are needed.
Things got even worse for the manager as Gakpo clipped a cross into the back post. Salah took one touch to control it before smashing it into the back of the net from a seemingly impossible angle. It seemed to be a regular thing for Liverpool fans to witness now, their Egyptian King doing the impossible. The visitors were sinking without a trace.
As The Reds continued to attack, Szoboszlai had a glimpse of goal from a tight angle. His cross come shot was partly blocked by Walton but ricocheted into the path of Gakpo, who slotted home. He had now scored in five consecutive games at Anfield. Slot’s side were purring and Ipswich much have been worried about another hiding.
Into the second-half and McKenna’s side tried to ask some questions of the Liverpool defence. Johnson looked to cross into the box but it deflected off the arm of MacAllister for a corner. There were half-hearted appeals for a penalty but the Argentine’s arm was in a completely natural position. It was far more positive from the visitors however.
As the corner came in, it was headed clear to the edge of the box. Hutchinson picked it up and tried to bend one in the far corner. He got his angles all wrong and it made for a fairly routine save for Alisson in the Liverpool goal. It was probably the first thing the Brazilian had been asked to do in the entirety of the game so far.
The Reds continued with their patient build-up but whenever they were in possession, Ipswich had eleven men behind the ball. It almost seemed as though McKenna had just sent his side out with the simple instruction, go and win the second-half. It is still a tall order to come to Anfield, withstand a barrage of attacks and keep this side out for an entire half.
Ipswich’s resilience was finally broken when Alexander-Arnold played a sublime curling cross into the box. He picked out Gakpo in the middle, who headed into the far corner. It seemed such an easy goal but had everything to do with the supply from Liverpool’s contract rebel. Not that this was on the minds of the fans as they celebrated their fourth goal.
Slot was able to ring the changes at this point and give some of his players a well-earned rest. Sadly for Ipswich, Salah was not one of them. He dribbled the ball into the box, with defenders afraid of making a challenge. His pass picked out Alexander-Arnold, who got a shot away, only to see his effort come crashing back off the frame of the goal.
This had been the sort of dominant performance you would expect to see from the league leaders. Enciso came off the bench and his first involvement was to clatter Endo to the ground. Liverpool players surrounded the referee, demanding that he be given his marching orders. However, the referee and VAR only saw fit to dish out a yellow card.
On that note, the official Premier League website has a section which explains a ‘high foot challenge’ accompanied with a picture of a Doku challenge on Mac Allister. The laughable thing being that in the game this took place, in the Man City penalty box, neither a foul nor penalty were given by Michael Oliver for this allegedly textbook high foot.
The visitors managed to carve out their first real sight of goal when a cross picked out Hirst in the box. His header was going in but for a fantastic reaction-save from Alisson to keep it out. Considering he had not been called upon much, it was a great piece of goalkeeping from the Brazilian. The Ipswich player had his head in his hands, thinking he had scored.
Late on in the game the Tractor Boys forced a corner. Greaves made a run into the box and met it with a diving header to give the visitors a late consolation. Liverpool took all three points but will be disappointed to concede at the cost of their clean sheet. It was another tough day at the office for Ipswich but they will not face sides like this every week.
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