Storm Eowyn may have passed by, but Ipswich were blown away by a ruthless first half Liverpool display that put them 3-0 up at the break. Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Mo Salah, and Cody Gakpo, before a second-half header from the Flying Dutchman secured a 4-1 victory over the Tractor Boys, who are surely heading straight back to the Championship.
A neat shot from Szoboszlai inside Walton’s left post from fully 20 yards inside 15 minutes put Liverpool in front. Arne Slot‘s men having dominated from the outset, the only surprise being it took until after the half hour for the second to arrive. Salah, having already given his left back a torrid time, hit into the roof of the net from close range. Ipswich, already looking beaten, then conceded a third before the break – a tap in for Gakpo, after Walton failed to hold on to a close range effort from Szoboszlai as Liverpool’s attacking prowess tore through them.
The second half looked simply a matter of how many Liverpool would score. Again dominating possession, they pinned Ipswich back in to their own penalty area for almost the entirety of the half, but were perhaps guilty of over playing at times, before Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out Gakpo with a pin-point cross just after the hour. The Dutchman rose high to glance a header beyond the goalkeeper. Trent then went close himself, rattling the outside of the post from inside the penalty box, and the Suffolk side looked under threat from the sort of spanking dished out to them by Manchester City last week.
Slot, having rang the changes mid-way through the second half, including giving both Federico Chiesa and Jayden Danns some game time, would have been furious with the final minutes. Liverpool conceding a 90th minute header, as Greaves headed in from a corner at the far post. So no clean sheet for Slot’s men, but a very comfortable afternoon, though not one you’d expect to be replicated away at Bournemouth next Saturday.
