Key events<\/p>\n
71 min: Barcola chases a pass down the left but Scherpen comes out of his box to deal with the danger. \u201cI saw Jan Molby play centre back in a Goodison derby,\u201d writes Gary Naylor. \u201cHe never got as far as the centre circle. Still ran the game though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>VAR: no penalty<\/p>\n 70 min: It would be a penalty for sure \u2026 Davis clipped his man \u2026 but it turns out Szoboszlai was marginally offside in the build-up. A huge let-off for Ipswich! Portman Road roars its approval.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 68 min: Szoboszlai gets in ahead of Davis down the inside-right channel. He\u2019s caught by the Ipswich man from behind. Szoboszlai goes over. The referee waves play on, but it looks like the Ipswich man clipped his opponent\u2019s boot. VAR will get involved \u2026 and sends the referee over to the screen.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 67 min: Barcola\u2019s first couple of touches, jinking in elegantly from the left, draws oohs and aahs from the travelling support. His third, an attempt to one-two with Wirtz, doesn\u2019t come off.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 66 min: Ipswich respond with a double change of their own: Emersonn and Maeda are replaced by Clarke and Flemming, who like Barcola is also making his debut tonight.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 65 min: Had Isak remained on, it would have been the first time in football history that three \u00a3100m players were on the same pitch for the same team at the same time. But we must wait for that particular modern-day pleasure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 64 min: Liverpool<\/a> make a double change. Isak and Munoz make way for Gravenberch and the new man Barcola.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 62 min: Fatawu goes long down the middle. Emersonn is never getting the better of Jacquet and Van Dijk, the latter finally heading back to Alisson. Still a sense that there\u2019s something in this for Ipswich.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 60 min: Looks like Barcola is receiving some tactical instruction from the Liverpool<\/a> coaching staff. We might see him soon. Meanwhile on the pitch, Enciso curls softly towards the bottom right. Alisson, who hasn\u2019t looked his assured self tonight, blocks but allows the ball to squirt away. He eventually claims, but is fortunate Emersonn wasn\u2019t sniffing around.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 58 min: Wirtz tries to combine with Isak down the inside-left channel, but his attempt to spin into space on the edge of the box is no good. Still, some much-needed possession for Liverpool<\/a>, who haven\u2019t looked settled since the restart.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 57 min: Kerkez slides in recklessly on Fatawu, and that\u2019s a no-brainer of a booking. Liverpool<\/a> suddenly look a little ragged, and panicky at the back.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 min: Fatawu cuts in from the right and curls towards the top left. Well wide, and Alisson had it covered. But Ipswich are threatening to get back into this game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 55 min: Scherpen dallies with the ball at his feet, then miscontrols, and is fortunate not to be closed down by Munoz.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 53 min: Munoz skedaddles down the right but he\u2019s quickly surrounded by five players. Ipswich counter, and Jacquet once again catches Emersonn. That could easily have been a second booking in as many minutes, but the referee shows the young man some mercy. Lucky Jacquet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min: Szoboszlai curls in from the right. If Wirtz controls, he\u2019s shooting from six yards. He doesn\u2019t control and Diop clears. Emersonn challenges for a high ball on the halfway line, and is high-kicked for his trouble by Jacquet, who goes into the book.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 51 min: Liverpool<\/a> enjoy some sterile midfield domination. Arne Slot would have been proud. Meanwhile Andrew Goudie, of half-time postbag fame, has got Jon Taylor reminiscing: \u201cThere were a few games in the 90s when Jan Molby played central midfield alongside John Barnes in his late-era, deep-lying and decidedly-less-svelte years. The two of them sat in the centre circle dictating play: it was like watching a binary solar system with two suns and the rest of the players orbiting around them.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min: All a bit scrappy at the moment. In lieu of anything exciting happening, Kerkez celebrates winning a throw like he\u2019s just scored from 30 yards.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 min: Szoboszlai delivers from the right. Mac Allister, free six yards out, flaps a weak header goalwards. Easy for Scherpen. Mac Allister should have done so much better.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 46 min: Mac Allister and Van Dijk confuse each other, nearly allowing Enciso to romp clear. Alisson comes out of his goal to whack clear. Up the other end, Wirtz shoots from the edge of the D, and his shot is deflected wide right for the first corner of the second half.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ipswich get the second half started. No changes as of yet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time postbag. \u201cxG is one of those analytics stats that has breached containment and is now polluting football discourse. Unfortunately, like pollution, it\u2019s difficult to clear up once it\u2019s out there so we now have to live with it. More seriously, it\u2019s only really meaningful over the long term. If a term is outperforming its xG, then it\u2019s really taking its chances, but if it\u2019s underperforming, then it needs to work on its finishing. In a single game, it tells you very little. As a statistic, it\u2019s better than shots on target, as it at least tries to take into account the quality of them, but that\u2019s a really low bar to get over\u201d \u2013 Andy (Not That One) Flintoff<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to squeeze \u2018No 6 collaborations project<\/a>\u2019 into a reply to Peter Oh (17 min) which is still relevant to the match, but I\u2019ve got nothing. I will be watching closely at the end though to see if Issa Diop and Milos Kerkez have a long chat. You never know\u201d \u2013 Rob K<\/p>\n \u201cAll the palaver over Mike Dean this week<\/a> reminded me that the great Jan Molby didn\u2019t leave the centre circle for years\u201d \u2013 Andrew Goudie<\/p>\n \u201cGakpo and Isak. Shall we call this partnership GakSak?\u201d \u2013 Paul Waite<\/p>\n \u201cGood to see Isak reviving Suarez\u2019s beef with all things East Anglian<\/a>\u201d \u2013 Ian Copestake<\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF TIME: Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool<\/p>\n Ipswich have responded well to the early double whammy administered by Alexander Isak \u2026 but Liverpool<\/a> are nevertheless in control at the break.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +1: The game suddenly slips into Basketball Mode. Gakpo tears down the left but can\u2019t find Wirtz with a poor pass infield; Palacios quick-breaks, but clanks his opportunity to release Fatawu down the right straight to Mac Allister. Both teams frustrated, Liverpool<\/a> especially so as Fatawu had clipped Gakpo with the ball gone, just inside the area. But you\u2019re rarely getting a penalty kick for that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.02 EDT<\/p>\n 45 min: \u2026 Gakpo batters clear. There will be two additional first-half minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 44 min: The corner takes a while, because the referee allows Davis to retie his boot. When it eventually comes in, it\u2019s Jacquet\u2019s turn to slice a clearance, and Emersonn forces a corner that\u2019ll come in from the right. Fatawu takes, and \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 42 min: When the free kick\u2019s finally taken, Kerkez crosses from the left. Jacquet cushions the ball into the road of Wirtz, who carefully threads a shot towards the bottom right. But there\u2019s no real pace on the ball, and it\u2019s easy for the keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Davis crossing from the left, and Araujo carelessly shins a clearance backwards and out for a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 min: Gakpo is skittled 40 yards out. Mac Allister tries to take a quick free kick, only for Enciso to step in the road. He\u2019s booked for delaying the restart.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 min: Szoboszlai, in space on the right, has the option of releasing Munoz into even more space \u2026 but opts to shoot instead. Scherpen once again parries clear. He\u2019s had a busy \u2013 and mixed \u2013 evening so far.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Alisson launches long. Diop misjudges, nearly letting Isak in on goal, but Greaves comes across to help the ball back to his keeper. Ipswich go up the other end, Enciso looking for the top-right corner from distance. He slices miles wide. It\u2019s been a pretty open, easy-on-the-eye game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min: Liverpool<\/a> coach Tommy Elphick is booked for telling it as he sees it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 min: Maeda probes down the inside-left but Jacquet doesn\u2019t give him much room to work with, and the eventual shot dribbles through to Alisson.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min: Just before that disallowed goal, Emersonn gently nudged Van Dijk off balance while the defender was in mid air, and the Liverpool<\/a> captain landed awkwardly. It should have been a foul, but the referee didn\u2019t blow. Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Gakpo not happy with the official. Thankfully there\u2019s no harm done.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min: Wirtz turns down the inside-left channel into space, then rolls infield for Isak, who opens his body and calmly slots into the bottom right. But the flag goes up for offside, correctly so. It was close, though.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: Wirtz tees up Mac Allister, just outside the Ipswich D. Mac Allister pings a rising shot over the bar. Not by much, though Scherpen had it covered.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 30 min: Enciso nearly beats Mac Allister in a foot race down the inside-right channel. But not quite. Instead he crosses, looking for Maeda, who is denied by Araujo, who slices clear. Then Fatawu crosses from the right, Davis heading harmlessly over the bar from close range. Ipswich are knocking on the door, all of a sudden.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 min: The xG at the moment: Ipswich 0.36, Liverpool<\/a> 0.35. Have to admit, it\u2019s not always the easiest stat to understand.<\/p>\n