Ipswich v Liverpool: Preview, predicted line-ups, stats and where to watch

Premier League, Round 3

Ipswich IPS

4/09/2026 20:00

Liverpool LIV

Portman Road

D. England

Ipswich v Liverpool: Premier League preview

Unsurprisingly for a £20 million signing, Zian Flemming’s arrival from Burnley has been described as “important” by Gary O’Neil before his side attempt to return to winning ways when Liverpool visit Portman Road on Friday.

O’Neil says Emersonn and Chuba Akpom have been “excellent” but believes Ipswich “had to get a third” forward, turning to Dutchman Flemming, who scored 11 goals as Burnley were relegated from the top flight last season and netted three times in four matches for the Clarets in the Championship this time around.

“He has scored Premier League goals in a newly-promoted side before,” O’Neil said of the 28-year-old. “He is an excellent addition and brings more competition for places.

“He brings physical attributes, is a good lad, leads well from the front, trains hard. It is important to recruit the right type of person.

“I was up to date throughout Monday and Tuesday, but this had been brewing for a while. We always felt like we would get him.”

While Town started by beating Sunderland 2-1 at home and lost 5-2 at Manchester United on Sunday, Liverpool have begun Andoni Iraola’s reign with 2-2 draws away to Newcastle and at home to Nottingham Forest.

“Ipswich have started well,” said Iraola. “Even the other day, you look at the result and you can think, ‘OK, they were far from United’, but in the first half they were probably the better team until United scored [to make it] 2-1.

“[Then] the game went more open and they had to risk a little bit more. They were playing really well, so we have to be very ready.

“I want to focus on trying to score first because everything looks better then; everything looks easier.

“We’ve been basically losing for 90% of the minutes this season because we conceded very early goals.”

Ipswich v Liverpool Premier League team news

Emersonn was hurt when the new signing landed awkwardly and jarred his knee at Old Trafford but O’Neil says the 22-year-old Brazilian is “fine” and winger Jaden Philogene is “close” to returning from a hamstring injury.

Midfielders Azor Matusiwa (muscle) and Jack Taylor (knee) are out for Town.

Forward Bradley Barcola could make his Liverpool debut as a starter following the France international’s £123 million arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, with Iraola saying the 24-year-old has trained well while remaining cautious over his lack of playing time during pre-season.

With Barcola preferring to operate on the left, Iraola failed in pursuit of a new right-winger, with central midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai among the options for that flank.

Iraola expects defender Joe Gomez to resume training next week following a muscle injury and expects forward Federico Chiesa, who has the same issue, and centre-back Giovanni Leoni, who has been recovering from a long-term knee injury, to be back in training in October.

No timeframes have been set for full-back Conor Bradley (knee) and forward Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) to make their comebacks from injury.

Ipswich v Liverpool predicted line ups

Ipswich starting XI: Kjell Scherpen, Dara O’Shea, Issa Diop, Jacob Greaves, Leif Davis, Exequiel Palacios, Sasa Lukic, Abdul Fatawu, Julio Enciso, Daizen Maeda, Zian Flemming

Liverpool starting XI: Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong, Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Victor Munoz, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak

Ipswich v Liverpool stats, Premier League form

• Ipswich have lost their last four Premier League games against Liverpool across the 2001/02 and 2024/25 seasons, conceding 17 goals and scoring once
• They are unbeaten in their last 18 home league games, comprising 17 in the Championship last season and that win against Sunderland this term
• The Tractor Boys have not won consecutive Premier League home games since a run of four in December 2001 and January 2002
• Across Ipswich’s opening two League games, Abdul Fatawu has created more chances (5), played more passes into the box (9) and won more duels (14) than any other Town player, while only Julio Enciso (178) has applied more pressures than the Ghanaian (120)
• Town have one clean sheet in their last 36 Premier League games and none in 21 since a 2-0 home win over Chelsea in December 2024, while O’Neil has two clean sheets in his last 35 Premier League games, both against sides who finished 20th that season (Sheffield United in February 2024 and Southampton in November 2024, with Wolves)
• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League matches against newly promoted sides (W15 D5), but the last such team to beat them were Bournemouth, managed by O’Neil in March 202
• The Reds could concede at least two goals in each of their first three games for a second time, after the 2012/13 season in Brendan Rodgers’ first three matches in charge
• Although he has only created two chances in two Premier League games this season, Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz has made 11 passes that have broken the defensive line, with only Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes making more (13)
• Reds striker Alexander Isak has four goals in just two Premier League appearances against Ipswich Town, all for Newcastle in 2024/25
• Three of those were as a hat-trick at Portman Road, making him the joint-second top scorer there that season, behind only Liam Delap (6)

Where to watch Ipswich v Liverpool: TV channel, live online streams

Kick-off on Friday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.

Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £27.99 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.

Ipswich v Liverpool Premier League prediction

Match Prediction

Ipswich

1 – 1

Liverpool

Ipswich gave United a scare on Sunday and Liverpool have looked porous as they adapt to Iraola, so expect both teams to score in another potential draw for the Reds – with both sides perhaps concentrating on conceding fewer on matchday three