🏏 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 20:00 BST
Ipswich
vs
Liverpool FC
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
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- Neither side has started the season the way they intended. Ipswich beat Sunderland 2-1 at home before being taken apart 5-2 at Manchester United, leaving them 12th on three points. Liverpool have drawn both of their opening fixtures 2-2, away at Newcastle and at home to Nottingham Forest, and sit 13th on two points. With Manchester City, Arsenal, Hull City and Chelsea already on six, both teams badly need a win here.
- Daizen Maeda starts on the left of Ipswich's attacking three and is worth the price of admission alone. The 28-year-old climbed through Matsumoto Yamaga, Mito Hollyhock and Yokohama F. Marinos, winning the J1 golden boot, before spending almost five years at Celtic collecting Scottish silverware. His extraordinary pace and relentless pressing make him the obvious weapon to attack the space behind Liverpool's back four.
- Three Celtic alumni share the pitch, though none of them overlapped in Glasgow. Maeda spent close to five years there; Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk moved from Groningen to Celtic before his Southampton switch; and Jeremie Frimpong, on the bench tonight, left Celtic for Bayer Leverkusen and their unbeaten Bundesliga title. Parkhead's export line has been busy.
- Japan captain Wataru Endo starts on the Liverpool bench. The 33-year-old holding midfielder built his reputation at Stuttgart, where he was crowned the Bundesliga's duel king, and his ball-winning remains a genuine tactical option. Liverpool have gone with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister as the double pivot, leaving the 190cm Ryan Gravenberch in reserve too — plenty of physicality available if the game turns scrappy.
- Florian Wirtz carries Liverpool's creative burden. The 23-year-old Germany international drove Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga season and possesses close control and final-ball precision at the very top of the world game. Ipswich's screen in front of the back four features Serbia international Saša Lukić, a box-to-box midfielder schooled at Torino and Fulham, whose legs and duels will be central to keeping Wirtz out of the pockets he loves.
- Ipswich's centre-back pairing face a serious examination. Issa Diop, 194cm, was a Ligue 1 regular at Toulouse as a teenager before his big-money move to West Ham, while partner Dara O'Shea is a 189cm Republic of Ireland international who came through West Brom via Burnley. Their assignment is Alexander Isak, the 192cm Sweden striker signed from Newcastle for a British record fee, who combines that height with the dribbling of a No. 10.
- Behind them stands Kjell Scherpen, at 206cm one of the tallest goalkeepers in European football. The 26-year-old Dutchman was raised at Emmen and Ajax before a Brighton move sent him on a tour of Vitesse, Oostende, Sturm Graz and Union Saint-Gilloise, and he dominates crosses through sheer reach. Against a Liverpool side fielding the 193cm Cody Gakpo and 192cm Isak, his aerial control will be tested repeatedly.
- Liverpool's back four makes for curious reading. Van Dijk, now 35, is partnered by 21-year-old Jérémy Jacquet, the Rennes academy product who arrived in summer 2026, with Uruguay's Ronald Araújo — a Barcelona stalwart for years — stationed on the right and natural right-back Frimpong held back. Miloš Kerkez, the Hungary international signed from Bournemouth, takes the left. Four goals conceded in two games explains the search for balance.
- Ipswich's front line is a young, international mix. Emerson, the 22-year-old 186cm Brazilian, was developed at Athletico Paranaense, scored freely at Göztepe in Turkey and passed through Toulouse before reaching England. Behind him is Julio Enciso, the Paraguay international who turned professional at 15 with Club Libertad, while Ghana's Fatawu Issahaku — formerly of Sporting and Leicester — attacks from the right with a genuine one-versus-one threat.