Premier League, Saturday January 25th 2025, Anfield, 15:00pm
Liverpool FC 4-1 Ipswich Town
Referee: Michael Salisbury H-T: 3-0 Att: 60,420
Match Report
Liverpool maintained their pace at the top of the Premier League with a dominant 4-1 win against Ipswich Town.
Three goals before the interval put the Reds in command of the Anfield contest on Saturday afternoon, as Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo each netted.
Gakpo later headed in his second and the home side’s fourth of the day from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fine cross, wrapping up a third victory in eight days, with Jacob Greaves responding in the last minute for Ipswich.
Team News
Arne Slot made five changes to his XI from the midweek win over Lille, with Alexander-Arnold, Gakpo, Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister and Andy Robertson brought in.
First half
Ten minutes passed with little in the way of incident, Gakpo’s swipe too high inside 60 seconds the only piece of action worthy of the description.
But the brief wait for a spark was worth it when Szoboszlai provided the Reds a lead with a sublime show of technique.
Konate’s lovely threaded pass forward allowed the No.8 to turn in space and, having used Salah’s supporting outside run as a decoy, Szoboszlai chopped infield and dispatched a low left-footer into the bottom right corner from 20 yards.
Mac Allister dragged an effort wide from further out, before a pause in the match as Ipswich’s Wes Burns had to be stretchered off the field due to an injury.
Visiting goalkeeper Christian Walton pawed away a Salah cross-shot at the end of a trademark jink into the area – but the Egyptian did not have to wait long to strike.
Gakpo’s swirling cross from the left wing found its way through to Salah at the opposite post, and he was unerring with a touch to control and rising finish past Walton.
And it got even better for Slot’s side with 44 on the clock. From Ryan Gravenberch’s teasing delivery into the near post from the right, Szoboszlai’s prod at goal was thwarted by Walton but Gakpo hooked in the rebound first-time.Second half
Having gone close with a half-volleyed curler in first-half added time, Szoboszlai was teed up inside the area by Salah early in the second period and flashed the ball across – but away from – the Tractor Boys’ goal.
The Reds did need Konate to recover brilliantly and stifle Liam Delap as the Ipswich forward threatened to break into the box from a counter-attack.
There was a routine take for Alisson Becker when Omari Hutchinson tried his luck from range as the visitors sought a way back into it.
However, it was Liverpool who added to the scoresheet midway through the half. Alexander-Arnold was the creator with a wonderfully floated cross from the flank that Gakpo glanced past Walton.
Alexander-Arnold twice went close to increasing the margin to five, firstly with a 25-yard drive from a cleared corner kick that was not too far away from its postage-stamp target. The Reds No.66 then clattered the upright with a lofted effort from inside the area.
In the final throes, Alisson produced a reaction save to claw away George Hirst’s downward header, though in the last minute of the 90 he was denied a clean sheet as Greaves headed in a consolation from a corner.
| Premier League, Matchday 23 Saturday 25th January 2025 |
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| Liverpool | KICK OFF, 15:00pm | Ipswich Town |
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4:1Half-Time 3:0 |  |
| Venue Anfield, Liverpool |
Shirt Worn Home |
Live On n/a |
| Captain Virgil Van Dijk |
LFC Formation 4-2-3-1 |
Captain Sam Morsy |
| Matchday Timeline | ||
| 1:0 | Dominik Szoboszlai (Goal 11'), Ibrahima Konate (Assist) | |
| 2:0 | Mohamed Salah (Goal 35'), Cody Gakpo (Assist) | |
| 3:0 | Cody Gakpo (Goal 44') | |
| 4:0 | Cody Gakpo (Goal 66'), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Assist) | |
| 4:1 | Jacob Greaves (Goal 90') | |
| Matchday Line-Ups | |||||
| 1 | Alisson Becker | 28 | Christian Walton | ||
| 4 | Virgil van Dijk | 3 | Leif Davis | ||
| 5 | Ibrahima Konaté | 24 | Jacob Greaves | ||
| 26 | Andy Robertson | 26 | Dara O'Shea | ||
| 66 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | 40 | Axel Tuanzebe | ||
| 8 | Dominik Szoboszlai | 5 | Sam Morsy | ||
| 10 | Alexis Mac Allister | 7 | Wes Burns | ||
| 38 | Ryan Gravenberch | 8 | Kalvin Phillips | ||
| 7 | Luis Díaz | 19 | Liam Delap (Y' 75') | ||
| 11 | Mo Salah | 20 | Omari Hutchinson | ||
| 18 | Cody Gakpo MOTM | 29 | Jaden Philogene | ||
| Matchday Substitutes | |||||
| 62 | Caoimhín Kelleher | 1 | Aro Murić | ||
| 21 | Kostas Tsimikas | 18 | Ben Johnson | ||
| 78 | Jarell Quansah | 22 | Conor Townsend | ||
| 84 | Conor Bradley | 44 | Ben Godfrey | ||
| 3 | Wataru Endō | 14 | Jack Taylor | ||
| 19 | Harvey Elliott | 25 | Massimo Luongo | ||
| 9 | Darwin Núñez | 9 | Julio Enciso (Y, 82') | ||
| 14 | Federico Chiesa | 27 | George Hirst | ||
| 76 | Jayden Danns | 33 | Nathan Broadhead | ||
| Matchday Substitutions | ||
| 29' | Ben Johnson on for Wes Burns | |
| 46' | Conor Townsend on for Leif Davis | |
| 67' | Harvey Elliott on for Dominik Szoboszlai | |
| 67' | Darwin Nunez on for Cody Gakpo | |
| 67' | Wataru Endo on for Ryan Gravenberch | |
| 79' | Nathan Broadhead on for Jaden Philogene | |
| 79' | George Hirst on for Liam Delap | |
| 79' | Julio Enciso on for Omari Hutchinson | |
| 80' | Jayden Danns on for Alexis Mac Allister | |
| 86' | Federico Chiesa on for Luis Diaz | |
| Manager: Arne Slot | Manager: Kieran McKenna |
| Stadium: | Anfield, Liverpool |
| Attendance: | 60,420 |
| HT/FT Sequence (Liverpool First): | 3:0 / 4:0 |
| Goal Sequence (Liverpool First): | 1:0, 2:0, 3:0, 4:0, 4:1 |
| Premier League H-2-H: | Ipswich Town Premier League H-2-H |
| Referee: | Michael Salisbury |
| Referee Assistant: | Mat Wilkes, Derek Eaton |
| Fourth Official: | Darren Bond |
| VAR Referee: | Paul Tierney |
| VAR Assistant: | Craig Taylor |
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