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2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 1
Ipswich Town v Liverpool
Portman Road
Ipswich, England
Saturday, 17 August 2024
Kick-off is at 11h30
Liverpool will begin the Arne Slot era with a potentially tricky trip to Portman Road against
Premier League newcomers Ipswich on Saturday, August 17.
Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp at the helm in the off-season and he has some big shoes to fill after the German won eight trophies during his nine-year tenure at Anfield.
The Reds were contenders for the Premier League title in Klopp's final season in charge before they stumbled in run-in, winning just three of their last eight matches.
Klopp's side eventually finished nine points behind champions Manchester City in third place and they'll be targeting a top-berth berth at least under Slot in 2024-25.
The Merseysiders have yet to make any signings during the current transfer window, but they bid farewell to Adrian, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara at the end of June.
Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
Ipswich made their return to the top tier of English football for the first time in 22 years after finishing runners-up to Leicester by one point in a pulsating Championship title race.
Kieran McKenna has worked wonders at the club since his arrival in December 2021, earning back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League.
The tight confines of Portman Road could present problems for visiting teams, who struggled for results in similar surroundings at Luton's Kenilworth Road last term.
Slot made his home bow against Sevilla on August 11 and believes he has identified who will start in the no.6 role against the Tractor Boys after trying several players in that position during pre-season.
"The ones I have tried there has sometimes to do with the players I have had available," the Dutchman said.
"We have seen mostly Wata [Endo] and Ryan [Gravenberch] there, and in the previous game even Dominik [Szoboszlai] was a bit lower.
"I have quite a good idea which player suits there at this moment in my opinion best. But we are only one week working together with some players. Sometimes you feel this is the best No 6 but then the combination with the other two might not work out that well.
"It's not to say the ones who played today will play next week or the weeks after. We are still in a situation where we are constantly evaluating which is the best line-up for us. Today you saw this, but that's not to say it's the same next week."
Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
Ipswich have already added Arijanet Muric, Conor Townsend, Jacob Greaves, Ben Johnson, Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap to their squad since earning promotion, but McKenna wants a few more new signings.
"The club are working really hard, I'm working really hard, everyone's working really hard to make additions to the squad," he said.
"We would like, in an ideal world, to have been a couple of additions further along by now, but we are where we are.
"It's a challenging market, there's lots of challenges in there and I think there's a balance to be found between getting in players who can help us as quickly as possible but also getting in the right players who are going to help us over the course of the season and over the course of the next 10 months, not just over the next 10 days.
"I think it's important that we have and we continue to make decisions that are right for the bigger picture for the season and for the years ahead and we're going to look to try and do that while also strengthening the team as prominently as we can."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Ipswich wins - 2
Liverpool wins - 2
Draws - 1
Premier League Matchday 1 fixtures:
Friday, August 16
21h00: Manchester United v Fulham
Saturday, August 17
13h30: Ipswich Town v Liverpool
16h00: Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Everton v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h00: Newcastle United v Southampton
16h00: Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
18h30: West Ham United v Aston Villa
Sunday, August 18
15h00: Brentford v Crystal Palace
17h30: Chelsea v Manchester City
Monday, August 19
21h00: Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
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