Arne Slot began his Premier League tenure as Liverpool manager with a victory on Saturday, as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah scored quickfire goals to secure a 2-0 win at newly-promoted Ipswich.<\/p>\n
Although Slot has the difficult task of replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, the Dutchman will have been encouraged by his dominant second-half display.<\/p>\n
After winning two straight promotions and making their first Premier League appearance in 22 years, Ipswich was riding high.<\/p>\n
Ed Sheeran, a minority owner and celebrity fan, was present at Portman Road, but he had to leave at halftime to go to a gig in Serbia.<\/p>\n
Sheeran witnessed the best of the Tractor Boys, who were not intimidated by their legendary rivals in the slightest.<\/p>\n
Within two minutes, Omari Hutchinson’s attempt was blocked, and then Jacob Greaves headed the best chance of the first half just inches in front of Alisson Becker.<\/p>\n
Since Liverpool is the only Premier League team without a new signing this transfer window, Slot is the only new face at Anfield.<\/p>\n
A careless and sluggish first forty-five minutes on the ball demonstrated the need for some new faces.<\/p>\n
The Reds were a different team after the break and had the opportunity to emerge as much stronger winners, but Slot’s halftime team speech proved to be effective.<\/p>\n
Salah’s attempt to curl in at the far corner needed Greaves to make a crucial clearance.<\/p>\n
However, Liverpool also narrowly avoided a penalty when Virgil van Dijk’s push on Liam Delap was called back due to a small offside in the build-up.<\/p>\n
Luis Diaz had a fantastic opportunity to score the first goal, but he squandered it after Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai set him up with some exquisite play.<\/p>\n
Jota then headed Alexander-teasing Arnold’s cross wide, leaving the goal open.<\/p>\n
At the hour mark, Liverpool’s pressure eventually paid off as another defense-splitting pass from Alexander-Arnold opened up Ipswich, and Salah squared for Jota selflessly to atone for his earlier miss.<\/p>\n
Five minutes later, it was 2-0 as Salah pounced to score for the ninth time on the opening weekend of the season for Liverpool after a one-two with Szoboszlai.<\/p>\n
Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton made a string of saves in the closing stages, notably from Salah and Conor Bradley, to prevent a more embarrassing opening-day defeat.<\/p>\n
Kieran McKenna\u2019s men had been unbeaten at home in the league for nearly 12 months.<\/p>\n
But Ipswich were given an early lesson in the gulf in quality between the Championship and Premier League.<\/p>\n
When Ipswich visits Manchester City, the reigning champions, next weekend, things won’t get any easier.<\/p>\n
Under Slot, Liverpool, however, have the opportunity to gain some early momentum.<\/p>\n
Their next six Premier League games are against Brentford, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Wolves, and Crystal Palace before the October international break, which comes either side of a trip to Manchester United next month.<\/p>\n
Arne Slot began his Premier League tenure as Liverpool manager with a victory on Saturday, as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah scored quickfire goals to secure a 2-0 win at newly-promoted Ipswich. Although Slot has the difficult task of replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, the Dutchman will have been encouraged by his dominant second-half display. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-143103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n