Ipswich Town vs Liverpool

Premier League newcomers Ipswich Town kick things off in the 2024/25 season at Portman Road against hot pre-season title favorites Liverpool.

It’s been a busy off-season for Ipswich Town after back-to-back promotions earned them a return to the Premier League after 22 years. In addition to bringing Portman Road up to EPL standard and keeping hold of sought-after manager Kieran McKenna, last season’s Championship runners-up have spent north of £50m to reinforce their squad. With Liverpool standing on the other side, the Tractor Boys must be grateful for embarking on a highly-awaited top-flight season on home turf, where they’ve only suffered one defeat across their last 39 league matches (W28, D10). While this is somewhat new territory for Ipswich, they can draw confidence from their traditionally fast league starts, having not lost an opening game of the season in the past ten years (W6, D4).

On the other hand, it’s a new beginning for Liverpool under former Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season. Klopp left Anfield after nine years, during which he guided the Reds to eight top-four finishes and helped them win their first Premier League title in three decades. Despite largely struggling to add to their squad in the transfer window, it’s hard to put it past Liverpool to get the new campaign off to a flying start after going unbeaten across their last 11 top-flight openers (W8, D3). Adding to Slot’s confidence ahead of his touchline debut, the Merseyside giants have mustered seven wins and a draw in their last seven Premier League encounters against promoted clubs.