O’Neil: I Fully Expect Us to Leave With More Points
Thursday, 3rd Sep 2026 18:50
Manager Gary O’Neil says he fully expects Town to leave Portman Road following their live Sky game against Liverpool on Friday night with more points than they had going into the match (KO 8pm).
The Blues won their opening home game against Sunderland 2-1, before tasting defeat at Manchester United a week ago, the Red Devils running out 5-2 victors of a match in which Town had been a goal up and on top prior to a couple of unfortunate incidents which led to the home side taking the lead and then taking charge.
Liverpool, fifth in the division last term, are yet to win this season having grabbed a 2-2 at Newcastle on the opening weekend, courtesy of a last-gasp Dominik Szoboszlai penalty, then were held at home by Nottingham Forest a week ago having been behind twice, the game ending in the same scoreline.
But O’Neil believes the Reds, under new head coach Andoni Iraola, the man who replaced him at Bournemouth in the summer of 2023, have deserved to take more than just two points from those games.
“I think their performances have been good,” he said. “I think they could easily have won both matches, probably deserved to win both matches.
“It’s interesting because I know, not Andoni as a person well, but I know his teams unbelievably well. Followed his journey, his assistant’s journey at Rayo Vallecano, who we faced last year at Strasbourg. They play in exactly the same way because Andoni was there. So I know his style and what his teams do very, very well.
“So Liverpool are that. I think the exciting thing probably for Andoni is he gets to take that style and now he gets real star quality with it, with what he’s been able to sign since he’s been there and what was already at the football club.
“They have a really good coach now. You know what you’re going to see: really aggressive out of possession, really well organised. But now he’s working with top, top players there, so I expect him to be a big success.
“Big fan of the work he does and Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, who I’ve worked with [at Bournemouth], are two fantastic coaches.
“So it’ll be a test for us. Of course, if you’re Liverpool, two points from six will be deemed not as much as they would have wanted, but they could easily have taken the full six.
“And they’ll come to Ipswich, I’m sure, thinking to themselves that they’ve got a chance to add to that points tally, as we do.
“Which is the beauty of the Premier League because I think every game you get both sides going into it thinking, ’We can take something here’. That’s the belief we have, we’re ready to go again. We’ve reset, we’ve had a great week’s training and we’re ready for the test.”
Expanding further on Iraola’s sides past and present, he added: “All three have been the same, his Vallecano team, his Bournemouth team, his Liverpool team. Obviously, it’s early days for his Liverpool team. His teams generally get better at it the longer he’s there as well. Their understanding of it will improve.
“But it looks very, very similar, so I don’t think there will be any surprises tactically. The challenge will be the quality of the player, how well organised Andoni has them, the physicality that they have. That is the Premier League. I don’t think we’ll get too many surprises tactically.
“We need to be ready to compete. We need to defend well. We need to carry a threat. So, a really exciting challenge for us.”
Town are unbeaten in their last 18 home league matches and O’Neil was asked how he can make sure that run continues.
“We can’t make sure, because [Bradley] Barcola and [Cody] Gakpo and [Alexander] Isak and people like that are going to turn up fairly regularly. So there’s no way we can make sure. But what we can do is we can perform in a way that always gives us a real chance, which we’ve done so far.
“We were in that game at Manchester United until a couple of moments took it away from us. We were in it.
“So that’s what we need to do. We need to make sure that, no matter who it is — Liverpool, Manchester City — when they come to Portman Road, we need to make sure that we’re right in the game, give ourselves opportunities.
“We’ll always be a threat. We’ve scored four goals in two games, really good for a newly promoted side. We look a goal threat.
“We need to keep that going. That’ll be tested. In the Premier League, you see there’s hardly any clean sheets now. It’s really, really difficult to keep the opposition at bay. The ball’s in play much longer, set plays are huge, there’s more and more attacking threat on the pitch, so you have to be able to score goals.
“So, really important that we keep that threat up. Looking forward to the challenge. It will be a tough one for us. They’re going to be fired up, but it’s Portman Road under the lights and I know the fans will be looking forward to it.
“My players trained excellent this morning, you have fantastic energy in the group. You can tell they’re looking forward to the challenge and I fully expect us to leave the stadium tomorrow night with more points than we arrived with.”
O’Neil dismissed the suggestion there might be some fatigue in the squad following the defeat at Old Trafford only five days before Liverpool’s visit.
“No fatigue, no fatigue at all,” he insisted. “And it’s brilliant. This is exactly where we want to be as staff, as players. People moaning about playing Manchester United and Liverpool, they need a bit of a reality check because it can be a whole lot worse.
“This is a fantastic place to be, a fantastic place to get to apply what we do every day against the best in the world. But it’s not like we’re just turning up to see how we do — we have a real chance of taking something from the game. No, we go to win and see if we can take three points, and we back ourselves to do so.
“So let’s see what we can do. We know the challenges that will be brought. That’ll be the same every week, it’s the nature of the league. But I’m sure with the signings we’ve made, the squad we’ve put together, teams will also see that we can hurt them as well with the quality that we have. So it’s important that we keep that going.
Quizzed on what he has made of Alexander Isak’s start to the season, the Sweden international, who bagged a hat-trick last time he was at Portman Road with Newcastle United two seasons ago, having opened his account for the season against Forest.
“Obviously last season was disruptive for him,” O’Neil continued. “He suffered a really bad injury. He looks back to me. I saw he scored a couple of really good goals, took a really good one in pre-season, I think, against Monaco. Good team move, fantastic finish.
“You can see why he’s one of the best players in his position in the world because he has speed and physicality, but his touch, he’s still really smooth with the ball. And to have all of that, he’s intelligent, so no wonder that he’s number nine for Liverpool because he has those sort of qualities.
“But we don’t really focus on individuals or stopping individuals. We try and set up the team to make sure it’s well equipped to deal with what Liverpool offer.
“So let’s see what we can do. Isak will be one of the pieces of the puzzle that we need to solve on Friday, but more of a focus around ourselves and how we make sure we’re in the best spot possible.”
Isak is one of three players likely to face the Blues who cost nine figures, his fee when he joined from the Magpies having been £125 million, while Florian Wirtz cost £100 million from Bayer Leverkusen and new signing Barcola was brought in this week for £123 million.
“I don’t think I have [faced a team with three players signed for nine figures before],” O’Neil continued. “I read something, the most expensive number nine, number 10 and winger in Premier League history.
“But everyone is going to spend and everyone is going to sign quality. We’ve had a good go at spending. We’ve signed quality, so everyone is entitled to do what they need to do.
“Liverpool spend money, of course they do, but the expectation at Liverpool is huge, so rightly so. If the expectation is going to be high, they’re going to need some good players. They have them, of course they do. And our job this weekend is to make sure that we can compete. We’ll be ready to, I’m sure.”
O’Neil began his coaching journey at Liverpool’s academy and remains grateful for the opportunity he was given having only just hung up his boots.
“I’m really appreciative of the guys there, because I’d just come out of playing, to give me the opportunity to work at such a big club and that high up the academy with the U21s.
“I appreciate [Liverpool academy director] Alex Inglethorpe. I met him on a few occasions towards the end of my career and we have a very good friendship. So I appreciate him giving me that first opportunity to step into coaching.
“It helped me a lot. I learned an awful lot. I wasn’t there as long as I wanted to be because an opportunity to move into first-team football at a good level came up quite quickly [at Bournemouth].
“But I loved my time there, made a load of good friends. Amazing club, as I’m sure you guys know or as you can imagine. But let’s see what we can do against them this weekend.
“I met Neil [Critchley, Town first-team coach] and Tim Jenkins [assistant manager] at Liverpool. Neil was doing the 21s when I was up looking around before I went in. He left to go to Blackpool just before I got there, but met Neil around there. Tim was the same. He was in and around the 18s, I think, at the time when I got there.”
“Met some really good people. It produces good players, it produces good coaches. I really enjoyed my time there, I know a few of the coaches there still, so looking forward to catching up with them this weekend and hopefully we can get some bragging rights.”
Moving on to how he might set his side up against the Reds and specifically their physically strong centre-halves, O’Neil says he’s looked at a few ideas.
“I think you need to be what you are,” he said. “You try and use your own strengths always. So there’s loads of considerations in how we pick the team this week. Whether you go false nine against two centre-backs like Liverpool, you play Julio up front and drop him down so you take that sort of physicality and duels away from them.
“There’s loads of possibilities, loads of things we’ve looked at this week in training to try and cause them problems.
“Of course, we can go right up against them with Zian [Flemming] if we want. We could put two up against them with Zian and Emmy [Emersonn] and be really direct.
“So lots and lots of options of how you try and challenge them. Of course, [Virgil] Van Dijk and [Jeremy] Jacquet, I think, are fairly well equipped to deal with most of those things. Both excellent centre-backs.
“But that doesn’t mean that we can’t cause them problems. So let’s see what we go with tomorrow and see what we can do.”
O’Neil has named an unchanged side for both Premier League games so far and probably won’t stray too far from the same XI on Friday unless he decides to go with one of his more radical options.
Kjell Scherpen will be in goal, probably behind a back four of, from the right, skipper Dara O’Shea, Issa Diop, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis.
A change appears most likely in the centre of midfield with Exequiel Palacios having had a week’s training with the squad after making his debut as a sub at Old Trafford and Florentino Luis fit after his calf injury.
The Argentinian international looks the favourite to come into the team alongside Sasa Lukic with Marcelino Nunez dropping to the bench.
Ahead of them, Abdul Fatawu looks set to continue on the right, Daizen Maeda on the left and Julio Enciso as the number 10 and Emersonn the out-and-out striker.
New signing Zian Flemming seems likely to make his debut from the bench in the second half.
New manager Iraola, who joined from Bournemouth in the summer, says the opening two fixtures were always going to be tougher with the transfer window open.
“If you don’t win you are frustrated,” he admitted. “It’s only two games but we need to win this game tomorrow.
“The first two games weeks are the most difficult, but I’m much more comfortable now the market is closed and we know who we are. We have to perform and do our job.”
Reflecting on Town, he added: “Ipswich are a team that started well, they won their first game at home. Even the other day, in the first half probably they were the better team until [Manchester] United got the 2-1 and the game became open and they had to risk a little bit more. They were playing very well. We have to be ready, give our best to win our first game.”
Liverpool added winger Barcola from PSG ahead of Tuesday’s deadline and the France international could make his debut against the Blues, most likely from the bench.
The visitors will be without defender Joe Gomez, who is set to restart training next week, and forward Federico Chiesa due to muscle injuries.
Right-back Conor Bradley remains sidelined having undergone knee surgery, while attacker Hugo Ekitike ruptured an achilles in April and centre-half Giovanni Leoni is another long-term absentee after tearing an ACL early last season.
Blues boss O’Neil was assistant manager of Liverpool’s U23s between August 2020 and February 2021 when he joined the first-team staff at Bournemouth.
First-team coach Critchley was with the Reds from 2013, when he took charge of their U18s, until March 2020 when he was appointed head coach of Blackpool.
During his time with Liverpool, Critchley twice took the reins for senior cup ties due to fixture congestion.
In December 2019, he was in the dugout for the Carabao Cup tie at Aston Villa, the Merseysiders, whose first-team squad were at the Club World Cup, fielding an U23s team and losing 5-0.
And in February 2020, he took control of an FA Cup fourth round replay at home to Shrewsbury as the first team squad were on this occasion away on a mid-season break. Another young side won 1-0 to progress to the next round.
Alongside Critchley for that game was Town’s assistant manager, Jenkins, who worked with the Reds between October 2012 and December 2022 in a number of roles, head of development analysis and assistant coach for both the U18s and U23s, and head of individual development.
Historically, the Reds have much the better record in games between the clubs, winning 38 (30 in the league), 22 (19) ending in draws and Town victorious on 14 (13) occasions.
Town have lost their last four in the league to Liverpool, conceding 17 goals to one in the process.
The Blues are without a win in eight in all competitions against the Reds and in seven at home, stretching back to a 2-1 victory under Bobby Ferguson in February 1986, Mich d’Avray and Kevin Wilson netting for Town and Ronnie Whelan for the visitors.
However, the Blues recorded back-to-back 1-0 away wins at Anfield under George Burley in 1995 and 2000, Adam Tanner and Marcus Stewart the goalscorers.
The teams last met at Anfield in January 2025 when Gakpo netted twice and Mo Salah and Szoboszlai once each as then then-Premier League leaders comfortably beat the Blues 4-1, Greaves pulling back a late header for Town.
The Reds dominated throughout and went ahead through the excellent Szoboszlai on 11, Salah made it two in the 35th minute and Gakpo 3-0 a minute before the break, then added his second and his side’s fourth on 66, with Greaves nodding his first for Town from an Enciso corner in the final minute.
On the opening day of that season at Portman Road, two goals in five minutes just after the hour mark saw Liverpool to a 2-0 win to spoil Town’s return to the Premier League after a 22-year absence.
After the Blues had more than held their own in the first half, Diogo Jota opened the scoring on 60, then Salah, who had created the first, added the second five minutes later with the result never in doubt from there.
Friday’s referee is Darren England, his assistants Richard West and Adrian Holmes, and the fourth official Lewis Smith. The VAR is Nick Hopton and his assistant Gary Beswick.
Doncaster-based England’s only game so far this season was Hull City’s 2-0 home win against Manchester United in which he showed three yellow cards and no red.
Coincidentally, his last Town match was the 3-2 defeat at Manchester United in February 2025 in which Red Devils’ defender Patrick Dorgu was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Omari Hutchinson following a VAR review. In addition, he booked O’Shea, Sam Morsy, Ben Johnson, Liam Delap and four home players.
He was also in the middle for a Town match at Arsenal just after Christmas the same season when he yellow-carded Davis and one Gunner in the Blues’ 1-0 defeat.
England also reffed at Spurs in November 2024 for Town’s first win that season, showing yellow cards to Davis again, Johnson, Delap, Hutchinson, Axel Tuanzebe and one home player.
In December 2023, England took charge of the 2-1 win at Watford in which he booked Hutchinson, Conor Chaplin, Massimo Luongo, George Hirst and two Hornets.
Prior to that he was in the middle for the 1-0 home defeat to Swansea in April 2019 in which he cautioned James Bree, Toto Nsiala and three Swans.
He also refereed the 2-0 defeat at Blackburn in the preceding January in which he yellow-carded skipper Luke Chambers and one home player and also awarded Rovers a penalty after Callum Elder had hauled down Adam Armstrong.
Before that he was in the middle for the 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest in April 2018 in which he booked Grant Ward and one home player.
England also took charge of the 1-0 defeat at Bristol City a month earlier, in which he cautioned Jonas Knudsen and one Robin, and the 2-0 win at Sunderland a month prior to that, in which he yellow-carded Joe Garner and one Black Cat.
Scherpen, Walton, O’Shea (c), Furlong, Diop, Greaves, Kipre, Davis, Ouattara, Lukic, Florentino, Palacios, Nunez, Fatawu, McAteer, Enciso, Walle Egeli, Clarke, Mehmeti, Maeda, Emersonn, Flemming, Akpom.
Photo: TWTD
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