Liverpool travel to Portman Road on Friday night hoping to end their winless Premier League run, with new signing Bradley Barcola expected to make his debut against Ipswich Town.
The Reds have taken only two points from their opening two matches under manager Andoni Iraola, drawing 2-2 with Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. Their difficult start means Iraola is still searching for his first three points in charge.
Liverpool go into the match as clear favourites, having won both meetings with Ipswich during the 2024/25 season. Their most recent meeting ended in a 4-1 victory for Liverpool.
The fixture will also provide the first opportunity for Barcola to appear in a Liverpool shirt. The club announced the £123m signing of the Paris Saint-Germain winger only days before the trip to Portman Road, and he is likely to be involved on Friday, giving the travelling supporters a major source of excitement.
Liverpool have no suspended players, but Iraola must cope with a lengthy injury list. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike, Joseph Gomez, Federico Chiesa, Vitezslav Jaros, Stefan Bajcetic and Giovanni Leoni are all ruled out.
Ipswich will also be without three players because of injury. Azor Matusiwa, Jack Taylor and Jaden Philogene-Bidace are unavailable for the hosts.
Ipswich began the season with a victory over Sunderland but then suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat away to Manchester United. It has been an inconsistent return to the Premier League for a side that finished second in the Championship last season.
Further information on both squads is expected from Thursday’s news conferences, when Iraola and Ipswich manager will speak ahead of the game.
The confirmed line-ups are:
Ipswich Town: Scherpen; O'Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Nunez, Lukic; Fatawu, Enciso, Maeda; Emersonn.
Liverpool: Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Gakpo, Wirtz, Munoz; Isak.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 20:00 UK time on Friday at Portman Road.
Liverpool have not won any of their past five Premier League matches, taking into account the end of last season and the opening games of the current campaign. Their recent sequence is draw, draw, loss, draw, draw.
Ipswich’s overall record against Liverpool is poor. In 63 previous meetings, Ipswich have won 13 times, Liverpool have recorded 30 victories and the remaining 20 matches have ended in draws.