League leaders Liverpool will play Ipswich in the English Premier League

Liverpool, who are still looking for their first Premier League home victory of 2025, will try to defeat relegation-threatened Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon
Liverpool

(Football news) Arne Slot’s men resume domestic action after confirming their place in the Champions League last 16, while the visitors are reeling from a six-goal slaughter at the hands of Manchester City.

Preserving their impeccable European record and virtually guaranteeing a first-placed finish in the 36-team league phase, Liverpool survived a brief scare to see off 2020-21 Ligue 1 champions Lille at Anfield on Tuesday evening, thereby ensuring that they would bypass an unwanted two-legged playoff.

Mohamed Salah’s exquisite curler and Harvey Elliott’s deflected effort either side of a Jonathan David leveller gave Slot his seventh win from as many European matches at the Liverpool helm, and just one point against PSV Eindhoven next week will ensure that the Reds sail through as league phase ‘champions’.

In addition to topping the continental table, Liverpool’s lead over the chasing pack in the Premier League extended to six points yet again last weekend, albeit not without two heroic late interventions from the mercurial Darwin Nunez against a dogged Brentford side.

The Uruguayan’s astonishing late brace both handed Liverpool their first Premier League success of the calendar year and extended their magnificent unbeaten run in the division to 17 matches since their first and only home loss under Slot’s wing so far.

Since being unexpectedly slain by Nottingham Forest in mid-September, the Reds have remarkably managed to score at least twice in each of their last 14 home matches across all competitions, and the form book certainly suggests that 14 will become 15 when Ipswich pay a visit.

Then again, a road trip may be welcomed with open arms by the Tractor Boys faithful after a pair of humbling results at Portman Road, going down to Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City by an aggregate scoreline of 8-0 over the past two gameweeks.

After an agonising 2-0 loss to the Seagulls on January 16, Kieran McKenna’s men were comprehensively dismantled by resurgent champions Man City, who were three goals to the good by half time and added another trio of strikes to their tally in the second 45.

From the high of a three-game unbeaten run to the lows of back-to-back home defeats, Ipswich have slipped back into the Premier League relegation zone, although only an inferior goal difference is keeping them below Wolverhampton Wanderers in the relative safety of 17th.

Ipswich may be without a clean sheet in eight straight Premier League away matches, but they have accrued a striking 56% of their points on the road this season; of all 20 Premier League teams, only Crystal Palace (59%) have won more of their share of points on rival turf.

Anfield was coincidentally the location of Ipswich’s most recent victory over Liverpool, although that 1-0 success came all the way back in December 2000, and the Reds’ straightforward 2-0 Portman Road success in August made it four straight wins over their East Anglian foes.

Also read: Manchester City will play Chelsea in the next Premier League game

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