Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool: Reds make winning start to Arne Slot era after Diogo Jota and Mo Salah find the net in the first Premier League game at Portman Road for 22 years

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Ultimately, this day of new dawns colliding in the east belonged to Arne Slot and Liverpool, for whom life after Jurgen Klopp started with a lunchtime tonic in the Suffolk sunshine.

Two goals in five second-half minutes by Diogo Jota and Mo Salah saw to that. Not only did they settle the contest, but they relieved apprehension which was only natural with a change at the top after eight years of Klopp and an absence of summer signings.

Once the visitors found the right tempo, quicker and crisper as they zipped their passes around, they subdued the party mood and the margin of victory could easily have been more emphatic.

They were far from clinical and yet there were some pleasing signs of continuity from those in red. Of connections unbroken, such as the one between Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right. Of new shapes and patterns, with a stylish contribution by Ryan Gravenberch.

There was the satisfaction of a clean sheet for Slot as his team negotiated what was - as it always promised to be - a difficult opening fixture.

Liverpool began their 2024-25 campaign by winning away at Ipswich Town on Saturday

This was Liverpool's first competitive game under the leadership of new manager Arne Slot

Diogo Jota scored the first goal of Liverpool's Slot era with a sharp finish in the 60th minute

Mo Salah, after assisting Jota for Liverpool's first goal, scored his team's second on 65 minutes

Music star Ed Sheeran (centre) was among the Portman Road crowd but he left at half-time

Ipswich Town are a team charged up on the confidence of a winning habit under the quiet leadership of Kieran McKenna and Portman Road, sold out and whipped into a pre-match frenzy as supporters unleashed the pent-up frustration born of 22 years of exile and unfurled a banner declaring 'The Future is Now' along the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, as the teams emerged.

'Maybe as expected because they were all on top of us, very aggressive,' said Slot. 'We didn't cope with that well enough. There were many things told to me and one of them was that Jurgen hated the 1230 kick-off and we showed the team hated it too because we were not in the game in the first half.

'The first half wasn't good enough. The second half was a real good performance. A joy to watch. We won more duels, more second balls and we played more balls in behind. Then, the gaps opened up, and you could see how well we played in possession.'

For Ipswich, the second half was an illustration of the highest levels in the Premier League, but they can take courage from the way they made Liverpool fight for the right to enjoy their football.

McKenna's players dared to play out from the back, a trademark of the rise from League One. Jacob Greaves exuded a calm authority on his debut, and forced the game's first save from Alisson with a strong header from a free-kick clipped into the penalty box by Sam Morsy.

Liverpool's goalkeeper also saved from Omari Hutchinson, released on the break by Liam Delap, another Ipswich debutant who impressed with his aerial power, strength and a deceptive change of pace.

Jota, 27, celebrated his goal on Saturday by performing an homage to the 'Baby Shark' song

Salah has now scored nine opening-weekend goals during his prolific Premier League career

'A really strong first-half performance,' agreed McKenna, who resisted overtures from Chelsea and Brighton to embrace the next phase of this project. 'We were physical, aggressive, brave out of possession and did a lot of good things in possession.

'We gave a really strong team a lot of problems. We showed all the ingredients we're going to need if we are to have a good season. The challenge is to do it for longer, for 90 minutes or manage the game if we don't.

Slot grumbled about lost duels as he tried to make sense of the sluggish start. His team was too passive. Ipswich hustled and disturbed them and limited their chances.

Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton, deputising for Aro Muric, the £10million signing from Burnley who injured a calf earlier in the week, came out bravely at feet of Luis Diaz, who sniffed a chance to pounce on an interception by Luke Woolfenden.

Alexander-Arnold also swept over from 20 yards when would have expected to hit the target, just before the half-time interval.

Ibrahima Konate came on for Jarell Quansah at half time and helped them establish more control, dominating Delap in the air and enabling the team to squeeze together, more cohesive and 20 yards further up the pitch.

Liverpool's Luis Diaz (right) and Ipswich's Jacob Greave (left) pictured battling for the ball

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna waved at the crowd following the final whistle on Saturday

Alisson (left) and Ibrahima Konate (right) congratulated each other on Liverpool's clean sheet

They forced Ipswich towards their own penalty area where they became engaged in some desperate defending.

McKenna's players threw their bodies into blocks and tackles to protect Walton. They also rode their luck at times. Diaz beat the offside flag only to lob a simple chance over then Jota headed wide when he ought to have found the net.

Even so, the pressure told. The Ipswich adrenalin subsided. Morsy and Massimo Luongo, the midfield battery, faded and the home team started to suffer as Alexander-Arnold and Salah came to enjoy more space. 'Our physical level dropped, I think that's understandable,' said McKenna.

Jota struck on the hour, a cool finish to a slick move down the right featuring both Alexander-Arnold and Salah, who smuggled in Liverpool's second, five minutes later, linking up with Dominik Szoboszlai and taking advantage of a helpful toe-end deflected off Leif Davis.

There might have been several more. Walton made a splendid save from Conor Bradley in stoppage time but two was enough for Slot to savour a winning start. As for Ipswich, they will collect points at home if they can perform as they did in the first half but, next, a trip to champions Manchester City.