Arne Slot ignores Liverpool's early kick-off as they beat Ipswich

Arne Slot was happy to poke fun at the bogeyman of his predecessor Jürgen Klopp after making a triumphant start as Liverpool manager with a 2-0 win at Ipswich.

One of Klopp's biggest annoyances was Saturday's 12.30pm kick-off and for long stretches at Portman Road it looked as though Slot would have the same annoyance after Ipswich came out on top in a tight first half that saw the visitors fail to get a single shot on target.

Liverpool, who finished third in Klopp's last season, improved again after the break: Diogo Jota was able to force the first goal after an hour following an assist from Mohamed Salah.

Five minutes later, Salah converted a clever attempt from the assist provider to the finisher, making him the top scorer in the opening games of the Premier League weekend with nine goals and securing three points on Slot's debut.

“When I started here, I was told a lot of things and one of them was that Jürgen hated the 12.30 kick-off,” said Slot.

“Today the team showed that they hate the 12.30 kick-off because they were not in the game in the first half.

“We made a big change as a team at half-time because we played completely differently to the first half but I have to give credit to Ipswich.

“In the second half we won more tackles, won more second balls and played more balls backwards.

“Because when the other team takes the risk of playing one-on-one and you have players like Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota, then use them. Play the balls backwards.

“We did that better in the second half and from then on gaps opened up.”

Slot played down his intervention at half-time, but Ibrahima Konate came on for Jarell Quansah and 15 minutes later Jota broke the spell.

Trent Alexander-Arnold played through Salah, who found Jota, and this time he slotted past Christian Walton – 60 seconds after the latter had headed wide.

The Ipswich fans cheered the team on, but five minutes later the score was 2-0.

Virgil van Dijk played a superb cross-ball to Salah, who exchanged passes with Dominik Szoboszlai before the Liverpool number 11 slotted the ball under Walton.

Salah's contracts, as well as those of Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, expire next summer, but Slot's focus is on Brentford and avoiding a repeat of his first-half performance.

“When I see what Mo does to keep his body in shape and be ready for every game, I think he can play for many more years. But I'm looking at Brentford now and not at the end of the season,” said Slot.

“In my opinion we didn't cope with it (Ipswich's aggressiveness) well enough.

“And that's what I told them at half-time: 'If you want to win here, you have to step up, win your challenges the first time and make a fight out of it.'

“It helped us that Ibou Konate came on because he won his challenges from the start and gave us a lot of possession, which led to two goals. But we could have scored a few more.”

Kieran McKenna was proud of his players as the club returned to the top division after 22 years.

Seven players in the starting line-up were also regular players when Ipswich achieved promotion from Sky Bet League One in 2023.

“I think it was a really positive first-half performance and we showed all the ingredients we need for a good season,” McKenna said.

“The challenge for us is, of course, that we have to hold out longer.

“But I think the players can be really proud of their efforts and the way they managed to improve.”