Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool - PLAYER RATINGS: Which 8/10 star returned looking 'very sharp'? Who was 'overrun'? And what about 5/10 man who had a tough day for the Reds?
- Diogo Jota and Mo Salah scored as Liverpool overcame Ipswich 2-0 on Saturday
Second half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah ensured Liverpool began the Arne Slot era with a comfortable 2-0 win over newly promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
Kieran McKenna's side had frustrated Liverpool in the first half as Ipswich played their first match back in the top flight since 2002.
The Tractor Boys were undone by a five minute second half spell, with Jota finishing off a fine team move from close range on the hour mark.
Salah doubled the advantage five minutes later after a one-two with Trent Alexander-Arnold, as he found the net for a ninth time on the opening day of a Premier League season.
Mail Sport's Lewis Steele offers his player ratings from Portman Road as Liverpool made a winning start under Slot.
Diogo Jota opened the scoring from close range on the hour mark to put Liverpool ahead
Mo Salah scored for a record ninth time on the opening day of a Premier League season
New Liverpool boss Arne Slot enjoyed a comfortable opening day victory over Ipswich
IPSWICH (4-2-3-1)
Christian Walton - 6.5
Brilliantly smothered a ball from Diaz at the end of the first half but had not much to do otherwise in the opening 45 minutes. Could do little about Liverpool’s goals in the second half.
Axel Tuanzebe - 5
Had a tough afternoon up against Diaz and Robertson on his side and was overran at times. Had a good chance at the other end with a looping header.
Luke Woolfenden - 7 (Booked)
Booked for a tug on Gravenberch after six minutes and was up against it from then but stood tall against the challenge of Jota. Huge block to deny Mac Allister on the line. Both centre halves played well despite the defeat.
Jacob Greaves - 7
Got the crowd roaring just 90 seconds into Ipswich’s return to the Premier League with a crunching but clean tackle on Szoboszlai. Might have done slightly better with a header after 20 minutes that went straight at Alisson.
Leif Davis - 7
Excellent first-half display against Salah and the Egyptian barely had a sniff, with Davis making several big tackles. Clearly tired in the second half and faded going forward, plus Salah grew into the game and gave Davis a tough time.
Kieran McKenna's side frustrated Liverpool in the first half but were undone in the second
Jacob Greaves went close to opening the scoring for the hosts with a first half header
Massimo Luongo - 6.5
‘He’s here, he’s there, he’s every-f***ing-where, Massimo, Massimo,’ sang the home crowd – and it was a fair song. The Aussie midfielder covered a lot of ground and stopped Liverpool’s midfielders from playing.
Sam Morsy - 6
Always hustling in midfield and the captain put in a solid shift. Started to tire slightly after the break.
Wes Burns - 6 (Booked)
Slightly unlucky to get booked early on which provoked a chant of ‘who’s the scouser in the black’ at the referee. Gave Robertson a number of worries in the first half but lacked end product.
Conor Chaplin - 5
Popped up in lots of dangerous areas but did not do enough in terms of impacting Ipswich’s attacks.
Omari Hutchinson - 7 (Booked)
Was Ipswich’s best attacker in the first half, constantly getting on the ball. Had a big sight of goal after two minutes but was thwarted by Quansah, then had other chances to score but was denied.
Liam Delap - 6.5
The lanky striker was playing on the shoulder of his England Under 21 team-mate Quansah in the first half and made some good runs in behind. Wanted a penalty in the second half for a push from Van Dijk but the Liverpool defender was saved by the offside flag.
Conor Chaplin popped up in dangerous areas but struggled to impact Ipswich's attacks
Omari Hutchinson was Ipswich's best attacker in the first half but was denied by the Reds
Substitutes:
Ben Johnson (for Burns 57) - 6
Jack Taylor (for Luongo 65) - 6
Marcus Harness (for Chaplin 65) - 6
Ali Al-Hamadi (for Delap 74) - 6
Sammie Szmodics (for Tuanzebe 74) - 6
Unused: Cieran Slicker, Kalvin Phillips, Cameron Burgess, Conor Townsend.
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1)
Alisson - 6
Was forced into a couple of simple stops in the first half, denying a Greaves header and then a powerful Hutchinson effort. Gave the ball away cheaply on occasion.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7.5
Showed off his passing range – as always – with some lovely balls in behind for the likes of Salah. Had Liverpool’s best sight of goal on the stroke of half-time but skied a shot over the crossbar. Beautiful cross for Jota on 60 minutes that should have ended in a goal.
Jarell Quansah - 6
Made an important block after two minutes to deny Hutchinson and enjoyed his battle against his good friend Delap. Sadly was taken off at half-time and replaced by Konate.
Virgil van Dijk - 6
Made some important and commanding headers as usual to reduce the threat posed by Ipswich. Comfortable on the ball. Ipswich fans wanted a penalty for a shove on Delap but Liverpool were bailed out by the offside flag.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played an outstanding through ball in the build-up to Jota's opener
Andy Robertson had a tough first half and was beaten several times by Ipswich's Wes Burns
Ryan Gravenberch produced a confident display in midfield in Liverpool's No 6 role
Andy Robertson - 5
A tough first half as he was beaten too easily a number of times by Burns – and was perhaps lucky to escape an early booking for a couple of fouls. Got forward without causing many problems for the Ipswich back line.
Ryan Gravenberch - 7
All the talk this week has been about the lack of transfers in the midfield department for Liverpool as they missed out on Martin Zubimendi. But Gravenberch put in a confident display in the No 6 role with some nice passes and good interventions off the ball.
Alexis Mac Allister - 7
Given a bit more licence to get forward than Gravenberch and made some lung-busting late runs into the penalty area without really threatening. Some good tackles off the ball.
Mohamed Salah - 8
Lovely run off the ball and assist for Jota’s opener. Looked very sharp and relished his challenge against Davis. Sometimes picked the wrong pass in the first half but grew in confidence as the game went on, capping it off with a fine finish for their second.
Jota broke the deadlock from close range to end Ipswich's resistance in the lunchtime kick-off
Salah looked very sharp for the season opener and grew in confidence in the second half
Dominik Szoboszlai - 7
Hungary captain is playing in a more advanced role this season and sat just behind No 9 Jota here. Had nice moments including some lovely sprayed passes and an unselfish assist for Salah when he could have been greedy.
Luis Diaz - 7
Probably Liverpool’s brightest spark going forward early on and the Colombian looked very sharp on the left. Skied one over early in the second half, though. His finishing needs to improve this season.
Diogo Jota - 7.5
Missed a gilt-edged chance just before the hour mark after a beautiful cross from Alexander-Arnold, heading inches wide. But atoned a minute later with a clinical finish after nice work from Salah.
Substitutes:
Ibrahima Konate (for Quansah 46) - 6
Conor Bradley (for Alexander-Arnold 76)
Cody Gakpo (for Jota 78) (Booked)
Kostas Tsimikas (for Robertson 79)
Unused: Caoimhin Kelleher, Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott.
Attendance: 30,014.
Tim Robinson - 5 - Awarded a lot of cheap fouls.
