Iraola has not won yet, and Liverpool have not led for a minute all season

Liverpool go to Portman Road on Friday night with two points, two draws and a habit of conceding first. Andoni Iraola is two league games into the job and still waiting for a win.

Two draws, and four conceded

Iraola signed a two-year deal after taking Bournemouth to sixth and their first European campaign. His first game in charge, away at Newcastle, finished 2-2, Dominik Szoboszlai converting a penalty nine minutes into stoppage time. His first at Anfield, against Nottingham Forest on August 29, finished 2-2 as well. Liverpool trailed twice, to Dan Ndoye and then a Morgan Gibbs-White penalty, and needed Alexander Isak on the hour and Victor Munoz eight minutes from time to draw level. Four scored, four conceded, thirteenth in the table.

Iraola inherited a job that is harder than the squad list suggests. Liverpool spent 446.5 million pounds in the summer of 2025, the most any Premier League club has spent in a single window, and then finished fifth on 60 points behind champions Arsenal. Two seasons ago they were champions themselves. The signings arrived, the defence went the other way, and Arne Slot paid for it.

The part that broke has not been fixed yet. Liverpool have conceded four times in two games and have not led for a single minute of either. Iraola has said the tempo he wants will take time to bed in, and two matches is not much of a sample. It is enough to notice that his side keep starting from behind.

Barcola could make his debut

Bradley Barcola arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in the closing days of the window on a five-year deal, for a guaranteed 106 million pounds that can rise to 123 million with add-ons. That makes him the second most expensive player Liverpool have ever bought, behind Alexander Isak. He is available at Portman Road and could get his first minutes.

He arrives into a forward line missing Hugo Ekitike, with Federico Chiesa also out. Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Vitezslav Jaros are the rest of the absentee list, which thins the back four and the cover behind it at exactly the wrong moment.

Ipswich have won one and shipped five in the other

Gary O’Neil arrived from Strasbourg on a three-year deal after Kieran McKenna stepped down at the end of five years and a promotion, and his first league game went about as well as a promoted side could ask. Emersonn put Ipswich ahead against Sunderland on August 22, Nilson Angulo levelled before the break, and Jack Clarke won it in the 90th minute.

Old Trafford went differently. Ipswich scored twice and lost 5-2, which leaves them 12th on three points with four scored and six conceded. Both results matter here. Ipswich have scored in every game they have played, and they will also give some back, which is roughly the match Liverpool have been playing all season.

O’Neil is without Azor Matusiwa, Jack Taylor and Jaden Philogene-Bidace. Emersonn is available after jarring his knee at Old Trafford, and Florentino Luis is available for the first time this season after a calf injury.

The recent record is one-sided

The last time these two were in the same division, Liverpool won 4-1 at Anfield in January 2025 and 2-0 at Portman Road in August 2024. That Portman Road game was Arne Slot’s first in the Premier League, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah scoring inside six second-half minutes. Two years and one sacking later, Liverpool go back to the same ground with another new manager and a worse defence.

When and where to watch

Ipswich Town play Liverpool at Portman Road at 8:00 PM BST on Friday, September 4, which is 12:30 AM IST on Saturday morning in India.

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