Alexander Isak announced his revival at Liverpool with a rapid first-half double as Andoni Iraola secured his first Premier League victory in charge of the Reds, a 2-0 win at Portman Road on Friday night that also brought a first appearance from summer signing Bradley Barcola.
Isak, whose £125m move from Newcastle made him one of the most expensive players in English football history, took just six minutes to open the scoring, latching onto a defence-splitting pass from Cody Gakpo before rifling a shot beyond goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, who may have expected to do better. Three minutes later, Gakpo supplied an even more inventive assist, curling an outside-of-the-boot pass into Isak's path. The Swede shifted the ball past Jacob Greaves before slotting home with his left foot to double the advantage inside the opening ten minutes.
It continued a rich vein of form for Isak, who had also scored against Nottingham Forest previously, and he nearly completed a first-half hat-trick when he converted a Florian Wirtz cross, only to be flagged narrowly offside.
"If Alex is fit and is available, he will produce the numbers," Iraola said of his forward after the match. Isak himself struck an optimistic tone about the team's evolution under the new manager, saying: "We are starting to get to the way we want to play."
Gakpo, who had been linked with a move away from Anfield to Manchester City or Tottenham before the transfer window closed, was widely praised for his display in providing both assists. Virgil van Dijk was among those to laud his teammate's contribution. "Cody was outstanding," the Liverpool captain said. "I said it before the transfer window had closed, he's important for us, and he will be important this season." Iraola echoed the sentiment, adding: "I had no doubt with Cody... he knows how much we value him."
Ipswich, who had taken points off Sunderland on the opening weekend and performed creditably for large periods against Manchester United last time out, endured a chaotic start defensively before settling into the contest. Gary O'Neil's side created openings through Julio Enciso and Abdul Fatawu, while Ronald Araujo, making his Liverpool debut at right-back in place of Jeremie Frimpong, produced key defensive interventions to preserve the clean sheet.
O'Neil was left to rue his side's slow start while acknowledging the gulf in quality on show. "The level is ruthless," he said. "If you make mistakes against players like Gakpo, Wirtz and Barcola, there's a chance you will get punished." He later added: "I hate having to talk about good performances when you don't get points because you need to maximise them."
Liverpool might have extended their lead further, with Dominik Szoboszlai denied twice by Scherpen and Alexis Mac Allister missing a free header in the second half. Szoboszlai also appeared to win a penalty after being pulled and then knocked over by Leif Davis, only for VAR to rule the incident out for offside in the build-up, sparking loud celebrations among the home crowd.
Isak was withdrawn in the 63rd minute without completing his hat-trick, making way alongside Victor Munoz as Iraola introduced Barcola for his first appearance since a £123m transfer from Paris St-Germain. The France international, who had not featured since PSG's World Cup exploits, showed glimpses of the pace that persuaded Liverpool to make the investment, including a driving run that set up a late chance for Gakpo. "He hadn't played a single minute since the World Cup so we had to be careful," Iraola explained. "He was always a threat."
The victory moves Liverpool onto five points from three league fixtures as they prepare to host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek. Ipswich, meanwhile, will look to bounce back against Crystal Palace having now lost consecutive matches.
Based on reporting from Independent, Guardian, BBC Sport and Standard.