Ipswich - Liverpool. On the eve

On Friday, the third round of the English Premier League will open the confrontation between Ipswich and Liverpool at Portman Road. The hosts will look to recover from a painful defeat at the hands of Manchester United, while the Merseysiders will finally be aiming for their first win of the new season. Both teams have already managed to leave a lot of questions after the opening rounds, so the upcoming meeting promises to be an important test for each of the rivals. IPSWICH — LIVERPOOL FRIDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 10PM ▪️ PORTMAN ROAD, IPSWICH ▪️ HEAD REFEREE - DARREN ENGLAND ▪️ LIVE ON SETANTA SPORTS Gary O'Neill's Ipswich started the season with a win over Sunderland, securing three points thanks to Jack Clarke's 90th-minute goal. After that, the "tractors" confidently dealt with Leicester at home in the English League Cup - 3:1. However, the last match against Manchester United brought the team back to earth: despite a goal from Leif Davies and a good start to the meeting, Ipswich suffered a crushing defeat with a score of 2:5. However, at Portman Road, O'Neill's team have reason to be optimistic. Ipswich are unbeaten in 18 home league games in a row, although 17 of those came in the Championship. In addition, it was the native stands that helped the "tractors" start the EPL with a victory. At the same time, the problems in defense remain serious: the team kept a clean sheet only once in the last 36 matches of the Premier League. In attack, it is worth paying attention to Abdul Fatawa, who has already become one of the most active football players of Ipswich at the start of the season. Liverpool approaches the match in an even more unusual situation. Andoni Iraola's side drew 2-2 twice - first with Newcastle and then with Nottingham Forest - and are still yet to pick up their first win under the Spanish specialist. Moreover, taking into account the end of last season, the Reds' winless streak in the Premier League already includes six matches: four draws and two defeats. Liverpool conceded two goals in each opening game of the new championship, which clearly does not correspond to the ambitions of the club. However, Merseysiders have many arguments in their favor. They are unbeaten against the Premier League newcomers for 20 games in a row, winning 15 and drawing five times. A separate threat for the hosts will be Alexander Isak: in two Premier League games against Ipswich, he has already scored four goals, with three of them coming at Portman Road for Newcastle. Also, on the eve of the match, Liverpool made a loud reinforcement by signing Bradley Barkol - and you can expect his appearance in the starting line-up. Despite Ipswich's home streak and Liverpool's difficult start, Iraola's team is still the favorite of the meeting. The Reds are in dire need of their first win, and their forward line has enough performers to take advantage of their opposition's defensive woes. At the same time, Ipswich has already demonstrated that it is able to act boldly on its own field and create problems even for strong opponents. So you can expect an open match with chances at both goals, in which the visitors will try to finally break their winless streak. According to bookmakers, Andoni Iraola's wards have more chances of success today. Thus, Liverpool's victory in regular time is offered at odds of 1.54, while Ipswich's potential success is estimated at 5.50. The probability of a draw is represented by a coefficient of 4.75. 📋 GUIDELINES IPSWICH: Sherpin - O'Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davies - Nunes, Lukic - Fatavu, Enciso, Maeda - Akpom LIVERPOOL: Alisson - Frimpong, Jacquet, van Dijk, Kerkes - McAllister, Soboslai - Gakpo, Wirtz, Barkola - Isaac ⚔️ PERSONAL MEETINGS 📊 CURRENT FORM forecast 1:2