The start of a new season can have almost unlimited storylines, but few opening weekend match-ups can reach the level of this fixture for things to look forward to, for discovery, for clues as to what lies ahead in 2024/25.
By Karl Matchett
At home, the newly promoted, the coveted manager, the ambitious transfer plan. Ipswich Town might have something of a look of a preservation summer about their work in the market, signing players who clearly have big futures but little top-flight experience, but the hard work of a surprise promotion certainly isn’t going to waste. If the new players click – and if Kalvin Phillips rediscovers his form as a Premier League player after two shocking years – then there’s a chance…particularly if manager Kieran McKenna is as good as several bigger clubs seemed to believe earlier on this summer.
The 38-year-old head coach opting to stay with the Tractor Boys in the face of interest from Chelsea and Manchester United was a massive boost and they look as prepared for what’s coming as any side could be after a surprise double promotion.
And yet their task is one of the toughest, hosting Liverpool, one of the league’s best two sides over the past half-decade. Yet this is no longer the same club we knew, even if the team is so far the same.
Jürgen Klopp is gone, Arne Slot is in. A dugout change is backed up by a hierarchy overhaul, yet no incoming faces on the playing staff means familiarity will be key for the Reds. How high can they go this year? Is third again acceptable, or is a quick title challenge on the agenda for the new Dutch head coach? Pre-season has been positive, but so much is unknown in terms of how quickly the squad will adapt to his changes, and how fast he himself can adapt to the English top flight.
There’s no questioning the strength in depth Liverpool have in several areas, but the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all into the final year of their contracts with no extension agreements yet in sight. Perhaps not on the opening day, but as the campaign rolls along, that might surely become a factor.
Of more importance to this 90 minutes is how prepared some of those senior stars are after long summers at Euro 2024 and the Copa America. Liverpool have the technical ability to win the game, but Ipswich – as always with a team’s first game back in the big time – will have the energy, optimism and fearlessness to cause an upset.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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