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8 hours ago
5
Key events
84 min: Gakpo romps down the right and looks for Wirtz, free in the box. His low cross isn’t accurate, forcing Wirtz wide, and then the flag pops up for offside anyway. Then Mac Allister is subbed out for Nyoni.
83 min: A bit of space for Davis down the left again. He looks for Flemming in the middle, but Araujo deflects the cross back to Alisson. Araujo has had a good game in (one of) Liverpool’s problem position(s).
81 min: Greaves slips a cute pass down the inside-left channel to release Davis, who enters the box only to be denied a chance to shoot or cross by Araujo. But it will be a corner to Ipswich, which Lukic takes … only to fail to beat the first man. What a waste.
79 min: Another double Ipswich change, as Palacios and Fatawu are replaced by McAteer and Ouattara.
77 min: Flemming curls a weak shot in from the left. Alisson claims. Liverpool counter through Barcola, who dribbles into the box from the left and rolls unselfishly across for Szoboszlai … only for Gakpo to nip in and butcher a shot over the bar.
75 min: Fatawu dribbles dangerously down the right and enters the box … only to be denied by a characteristically haughty intervention by Van Dijk. “Jan Molby and Mike Dean!” purrs Niall Mullen. “Two football legends who could run a game from the centre circle.”
74 min: Flemming strides down the right and delivers a low cross through the Liverpool six-yard box. But there’s nobody in Ipswich blue making a run, allowing Araujo to flick clear, and in any case the flag pops up for offside.
73 min: The pace drops. Both teams unable to put much together at the minute.
71 min: Barcola chases a pass down the left but Scherpen comes out of his box to deal with the danger. “I saw Jan Molby play centre back in a Goodison derby,” writes Gary Naylor. “He never got as far as the centre circle. Still ran the game though.”
VAR: no penalty
70 min: It would be a penalty for sure … Davis clipped his man … but it turns out Szoboszlai was marginally offside in the build-up. A huge let-off for Ipswich! Portman Road roars its approval.
Penalty to Liverpool?
68 min: Szoboszlai gets in ahead of Davis down the inside-right channel. He’s caught by the Ipswich man from behind. Szoboszlai goes over. The referee waves play on, but it looks like the Ipswich man clipped his opponent’s boot. VAR will get involved … and sends the referee over to the screen.
67 min: Barcola’s first couple of touches, jinking in elegantly from the left, draws oohs and aahs from the travelling support. His third, an attempt to one-two with Wirtz, doesn’t come off.
66 min: Ipswich respond with a double change of their own: Emersonn and Maeda are replaced by Clarke and Flemming, who like Barcola is also making his debut tonight.
65 min: Had Isak remained on, it would have been the first time in football history that three £100m players were on the same pitch for the same team at the same time. But we must wait for that particular modern-day pleasure.
64 min: Liverpool make a double change. Isak and Munoz make way for Gravenberch and the new man Barcola.
62 min: Fatawu goes long down the middle. Emersonn is never getting the better of Jacquet and Van Dijk, the latter finally heading back to Alisson. Still a sense that there’s something in this for Ipswich.
60 min: Looks like Barcola is receiving some tactical instruction from the Liverpool coaching staff. We might see him soon. Meanwhile on the pitch, Enciso curls softly towards the bottom right. Alisson, who hasn’t looked his assured self tonight, blocks but allows the ball to squirt away. He eventually claims, but is fortunate Emersonn wasn’t sniffing around.
58 min: Wirtz tries to combine with Isak down the inside-left channel, but his attempt to spin into space on the edge of the box is no good. Still, some much-needed possession for Liverpool, who haven’t looked settled since the restart.
57 min: Kerkez slides in recklessly on Fatawu, and that’s a no-brainer of a booking. Liverpool suddenly look a little ragged, and panicky at the back.
56 min: Fatawu cuts in from the right and curls towards the top left. Well wide, and Alisson had it covered. But Ipswich are threatening to get back into this game.
55 min: Scherpen dallies with the ball at his feet, then miscontrols, and is fortunate not to be closed down by Munoz.
53 min: Munoz skedaddles down the right but he’s quickly surrounded by five players. Ipswich counter, and Jacquet once again catches Emersonn. That could easily have been a second booking in as many minutes, but the referee shows the young man some mercy. Lucky Jacquet.
52 min: Szoboszlai curls in from the right. If Wirtz controls, he’s shooting from six yards. He doesn’t control and Diop clears. Emersonn challenges for a high ball on the halfway line, and is high-kicked for his trouble by Jacquet, who goes into the book.
51 min: Liverpool enjoy some sterile midfield domination. Arne Slot would have been proud. Meanwhile Andrew Goudie, of half-time postbag fame, has got Jon Taylor reminiscing: “There were a few games in the 90s when Jan Molby played central midfield alongside John Barnes in his late-era, deep-lying and decidedly-less-svelte years. The two of them sat in the centre circle dictating play: it was like watching a binary solar system with two suns and the rest of the players orbiting around them.”
49 min: All a bit scrappy at the moment. In lieu of anything exciting happening, Kerkez celebrates winning a throw like he’s just scored from 30 yards.
47 min: Szoboszlai delivers from the right. Mac Allister, free six yards out, flaps a weak header goalwards. Easy for Scherpen. Mac Allister should have done so much better.
46 min: Mac Allister and Van Dijk confuse each other, nearly allowing Enciso to romp clear. Alisson comes out of his goal to whack clear. Up the other end, Wirtz shoots from the edge of the D, and his shot is deflected wide right for the first corner of the second half.
Ipswich get the second half started. No changes as of yet.
Half-time postbag. “xG is one of those analytics stats that has breached containment and is now polluting football discourse. Unfortunately, like pollution, it’s difficult to clear up once it’s out there so we now have to live with it. More seriously, it’s only really meaningful over the long term. If a term is outperforming its xG, then it’s really taking its chances, but if it’s underperforming, then it needs to work on its finishing. In a single game, it tells you very little. As a statistic, it’s better than shots on target, as it at least tries to take into account the quality of them, but that’s a really low bar to get over” – Andy (Not That One) Flintoff
“I’ve been trying to squeeze ‘No 6 collaborations project’ into a reply to Peter Oh (17 min) which is still relevant to the match, but I’ve got nothing. I will be watching closely at the end though to see if Issa Diop and Milos Kerkez have a long chat. You never know” – Rob K
“All the palaver over Mike Dean this week reminded me that the great Jan Molby didn’t leave the centre circle for years” – Andrew Goudie
“Gakpo and Isak. Shall we call this partnership GakSak?” – Paul Waite
“Good to see Isak reviving Suarez’s beef with all things East Anglian” – Ian Copestake
HALF TIME: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool
Ipswich have responded well to the early double whammy administered by Alexander Isak … but Liverpool are nevertheless in control at the break.
45 min +1: The game suddenly slips into Basketball Mode. Gakpo tears down the left but can’t find Wirtz with a poor pass infield; Palacios quick-breaks, but clanks his opportunity to release Fatawu down the right straight to Mac Allister. Both teams frustrated, Liverpool especially so as Fatawu had clipped Gakpo with the ball gone, just inside the area. But you’re rarely getting a penalty kick for that.
45 min: … Gakpo batters clear. There will be two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: The corner takes a while, because the referee allows Davis to retie his boot. When it eventually comes in, it’s Jacquet’s turn to slice a clearance, and Emersonn forces a corner that’ll come in from the right. Fatawu takes, and …
42 min: When the free kick’s finally taken, Kerkez crosses from the left. Jacquet cushions the ball into the road of Wirtz, who carefully threads a shot towards the bottom right. But there’s no real pace on the ball, and it’s easy for the keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Davis crossing from the left, and Araujo carelessly shins a clearance backwards and out for a corner.
41 min: Gakpo is skittled 40 yards out. Mac Allister tries to take a quick free kick, only for Enciso to step in the road. He’s booked for delaying the restart.
40 min: Szoboszlai, in space on the right, has the option of releasing Munoz into even more space … but opts to shoot instead. Scherpen once again parries clear. He’s had a busy – and mixed – evening so far.
38 min: Alisson launches long. Diop misjudges, nearly letting Isak in on goal, but Greaves comes across to help the ball back to his keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Enciso looking for the top-right corner from distance. He slices miles wide. It’s been a pretty open, easy-on-the-eye game.
36 min: Liverpool coach Tommy Elphick is booked for telling it as he sees it.
35 min: Maeda probes down the inside-left but Jacquet doesn’t give him much room to work with, and the eventual shot dribbles through to Alisson.
34 min: Just before that disallowed goal, Emersonn gently nudged Van Dijk off balance while the defender was in mid air, and the Liverpool captain landed awkwardly. It should have been a foul, but the referee didn’t blow. Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Gakpo not happy with the official. Thankfully there’s no harm done.
33 min: Wirtz turns down the inside-left channel into space, then rolls infield for Isak, who opens his body and calmly slots into the bottom right. But the flag goes up for offside, correctly so. It was close, though.
31 min: Wirtz tees up Mac Allister, just outside the Ipswich D. Mac Allister pings a rising shot over the bar. Not by much, though Scherpen had it covered.
30 min: Enciso nearly beats Mac Allister in a foot race down the inside-right channel. But not quite. Instead he crosses, looking for Maeda, who is denied by Araujo, who slices clear. Then Fatawu crosses from the right, Davis heading harmlessly over the bar from close range. Ipswich are knocking on the door, all of a sudden.
28 min: The xG at the moment: Ipswich 0.36, Liverpool 0.35. Have to admit, it’s not always the easiest stat to understand.
