Ipswich Town

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Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe says the side "don't fear" the top teams but they do have "lessons to learn".

The Tractor Boys played their first Premier League game in more than 20 years on Saturday as they kicked off the season against Liverpool at Portman Road.

Despite a 2-0 defeat, the newly promoted side won plaudits for their first-half performance and will need to take that level into their next match against Manchester City.

"You have seen a glimpse of what Ipswich are capable of," Tuanzebe told BBC Radio Suffolk. "Chances don't come often and you can see Liverpool took their chances. We can only learn from that and capitalise when it is our turn.

"We respect them [top teams] but we don't fear them. This was a game when we could take the gloves off and go for it. If you lose, people just think: 'Oh well, it was against a big team.' But, for us, it takes us a step forward and tests our levels to see where we are at compared with the top teams.

"We caused them a few problems and it was difficult for them to break us down. The second half was when we needed to keep that intensity and keep concentration throughout the game.

"We have some big lessons to learn."

Listen to the full interview on The Blue Hour on BBC Sounds

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Ipswich Town kicked off their Premier League campaign with a home defeat by Liverpool on Saturday, but there were still promising signs for Kieran McKenna's side.

Join BBC Radio Suffolk for The Blue Hour at 18:00 BST as host Brenner Woolley discusses the loss alongside special guests and looks ahead to Saturday's game at champions Manchester City.

Listen to BBC Radio Suffolk live on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Ipswich and Liverpool.

Here are some of your comments:

Ipswich fans

Sam: Really not unhappy with our performance. We stuck to our core principles and created some decent chances in the first half. Liverpool upped their game in the second half but if we play like we did in the first half then results will come. We kept going.

Simon: McKenna rightly selected players who have brought Ipswich this far over the past two years. That we were the better team for 45 minutes shows how far they, and the club, have come. Liverpool found their mojo in the second half and we couldn't match them, but we were trying to match a top-four side and we are newly promoted. A positive start for Ipswich.

Jan: Ed Sheeran needs to get his priorities sorted. We were the better team while he was there!

Liverpool fans

Eddie: It was a slow start against a very good Ipswich team who ran themselves into the ground in the first half. What I liked about this game was that Slot changed things for the second half and we really did start to play good football. We still need a couple of players in - definitely a left-back and a left-sided centre-half, and extra cover in midfield.

Tommy: Liverpool were agonisingly slow in the first half and very fortunate not to be a couple of goals down by half-time. The back four were horrendous. There was a big improvement second half but if we start a match like that against one of the big teams we will get picked off.

Garry: A good result, and it was probably expected that newly promoted team would want to give an account of themselves. Liverpool usually take time to get going, but I worry that our passing needs to improve overall. It seems we get closed down too easily and are subject to mistakes in passing. However, we've retained our ruthless counter-attacking strategy. Great team performance.

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Former Ipswich captain Mick Mills spoke to BBC Radio Suffolk about Jacob Greaves, Liam Delap and Sam Szmodics, who all made their club debuts in the defeat to Liverpool:

"I like the look of Jacob Greaves, he's strong, athletic and has a good touch. I think he'll do good for us this year.

"Liam Delap started to show us what he is all about. He showed us his strength against two very good centre-backs and showed us the pace he's got when Trent Alexander-Arnold showed him the byline and he left him for dead.

"Even Sam Szmodics, he came on and showed us one or two things. He's been played on the left touchline and it didn't phase him. His touch is good and he's very positive on the ball."

On Kalvin Phillips, who is yet to make his Town debut, Mills added: "He's the type of guy I thought we would have been searching for a long time ago in the summer. He's the sort of guy you need in central midfield with that experience. He's tough, tenacious and even Gareth Southgate said the player we missed most [at the Euros] was Phillips. We've got a lot to look forward to with him."

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from Friday's game between Manchester United and Fulham.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Arsenal 2-0 Wolves

• West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa

Matthew Howarth
BBC Sport journalist

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Kieran McKenna has turned Portman Road into a fortress during his time in charge of Ipswich Town, his team losing just one of their past 39 home league matches prior to Saturday's visit of Liverpool.

For a while, it looked as though the Tractor Boys might continue that fine record as they more than matched Arne Slot's team in the first half, with Jacob Greaves and and Omari Hutchinson both testing Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Unfortunately for the hosts, they were unable to maintain their intensity levels after the break as the visitors laid siege to the Ipswich goal and twice went close to breaking the deadlock before Diogo Jota's opener.

Mohamed Salah's close-range finish all but ended Ipswich's hopes of a route back into the game, but there were plenty of positives for the home side - who began the match with seven of the players who started the club's final game of the 2022-23 League One campaign.

Sammie Szmodics made his debut in the second half after joining the club from Blackburn Rovers last week, while Kalvin Phillips was left on the bench following his season-long loan move from Manchester City.

If Ipswich's latest new arrivals can settle in quickly, Tractor Boys fans will fancy their chances of staving off relegation.

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Kieran McKenna spoke BBC Match of the Day after Ipswich's defeat to Liverpool: "Irrespective of how the game went today, it would have been a great occasion for the football club to have Premier League football back at Portman Road for the first time in 22 years, it was always going to be a great occasion and I think the performance especially in the first half was something to be really pleased about and a real good base for us to build on in the season.

"I thought in pretty much all aspects, our pressing was really good, we regained a lot of balls high. We were aggressive, we were physical, we built with the ball. We went into the top line and gave Liverpool problems with the physicality that we have. There is a real good base for us to build there.

"We know it is going to be a challenge to keep improving and have to do that for longer in the game. In the second half Liverpool were the much better team and for us to challenge, is to try and build on that first half performance, take the the good things and try and maintain them for longer in the game and learn our lessons from the second half and improve on them week by week."

On two chances in the first half: "Not just the chances, probably we end up with the shot but also big moments and big opportunities on transitions and things as well. I thought we were the more dominant team in the first half.

"We know where we have travelled from, seven of the starting 11 were with us in League One so for them to be playing against Liverpool on the first day of the season and be in the ascendancy for the first half and probably the better team in that period, that's a great reflection of what we have achieved here but we'll also look at the second half and continue to find ways to improve and manage that bit of the game better but for sure I feel like there are a lot more positives out there today than negatives."

On conceding two goals in five minutes: "It's a key period in the game for us. We showed full commitment and good body language and put bodies on the line when they needed to. We can learn from that.

"After the first goal, Liverpool were in the ascendancy and their front three clicked into gear. We were a yard off on our pressure and we probably went and chased the game a bit too early to be honest. We probably could have been a bit more closed in that five or 10 minutes.

"I've got no concerns about the character that we showed on the pitch and in the crowd as well we know we are going to have difficult moments and we faced them head on and we stuck at it and we still played our football until the last whistle."

Read the match report here

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There are six games on the opening Saturday of the 2024-25 Premier League and BBC Sport will bring you all the action and reaction throughout the day.

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A new season, and a new challenge for BBC Sport's prediction expert Chris Sutton.

Sutton faced off against a guest for each of the 38 game weeks in 2023-24 and triumphed 21-10 (with seven draws) to secure his second predictions title in a row.

In the first week of the new season, his opponent is The Courteeners frontman Liam Fray.

The pair have both given their prediction for newly-promoted Ipswich v Liverpool on Saturday.

Sutton's prediction: 1-3

I love the job Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna has done, with back-to-back promotions, and they have brought a few players in, including goalkeeper Arijanet Muric from Burnley. Kalvin Phillips is set to sign on loan for the season too.

The way they start the season is going to be so important to get some confidence and a foothold in the top flight, as it is with all the promoted clubs, and Ipswich have got it tough because after facing Liverpool they go to Etihad Stadium next weekend.

Liverpool have not signed anyone yet under new boss Arne Slot but their firepower is incredible and I don't see Ipswich keeping them out.

Liam's prediction: 0-2

I've heard Ipswich are quite gung-ho and a good watch, but I don't know how that will work out for them in the Premier League. I can't see anything other than a Liverpool win.

Read the full predictions and have your say

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Ipswich Town winger Wes Burns says it is a "dream come true" to say he will be part of a squad that is competing in the Premier League, having signed for the Suffolk club three years ago.

"It is a really proud thing to have achieved," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"It is a dream come true to say I am part of a Premier League squad.

"I think it is everything to the club. It has an amazing history and it's been 22 years since we were in the top flight. It has been an incredible rise.

"I don't think anyone beyond their wildest imaginations would have thought it."

Burns has witnessed and been part of Ipswich's transformation in recent years and, with the club approaching the 2024-25 campaign with optimism, he paid tribute to their supporters.

"The fans have been through some hard times in recent years and credit to them," he added. "They have stuck by the club in dark times and they are getting everything they deserve now."

The Tractor Boys host Liverpool in their season opener at 12:30 BST on Saturday.

Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds

Ipswich Town are preparing for their first season in the Premier League for more than two decades but, even before a ball is kicked, pundits and bookmakers are predicting a swift return to the Championship.

But is staying up the bare minimum for Kieran McKenna's side or should they aim higher?

Martin Lambert from the Talking Town podcast tells The Football News Show that while survival would constitute a successful season, they should stay true to the philosophy that saw them promoted.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

The Football News Show chats to podcaster Martin Lambert, who says Kieran McKenna can bring the best out of England midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

In an interview recorded before Friday's two new arrivals at Portman Road were confirmed, Lambert also discusses the likely impact of striker Sammie Szmodics.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna and winger Wes Burns look ahead to Saturday's home match against Liverpool - Ipswich's first game in the Premier League since 2002.

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Ipswich host Liverpool in their Premier League opener on Saturday and, on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, BBC Radio Suffolk's Brenner Woolley explained how bad sentiment had been in the intervening years before their rise back into the top flight for the first time in more than two decades.

"There was a disconnect between the fanbase and the club," he said.

"They were disappointed with absolutely everything. They weren't seeing players come through, they weren't seeing attractive football, they weren't seeing victories. They weren't seeing any kind of progression and that eventually just slipped into apathy and they gave up.

"So many people weren't bothering going along. Fans were unhappy with the local media, with the managers. They were unhappy with the colour of paint on the turnstiles - everything you could imagine under the sun - because there hadn't been anything.

"The one time they did get into the play-offs at the end of the season - nine years ago - ultimately they lost to their fiercest rivals [Norwich City].

"Aside from that, so many League Cup exits before we got to September, so many FA Cup 'runs' that didn't go past the first weekend in January and of course, stagnation in the Championship ultimately followed by Ipswich Town dropping into the third tier for the first time since about 1957."

Now, there is a renewed optimism at the club and everyone is excited to see their blue shirts back in the Premier League this weekend.

"People bleed blue," he added. "For so long in my early days here I would see all sorts of kits from around the globe [in the town] but now, everywhere you go it's Ipswich. That is tremendous."

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We asked how you felt about Ipswich's transfer dealings so far, after the Tractor Boys confirmed the signings of Sammie Szmodics and Kalvin Phillips on Friday.

Here are some of your comments:

Andy: Yesss... Szmodics done. I think Ipswich's business this window has been superb.

Josha: The signings of Szmodics and Phillips are a statement of intent to back Kieran McKenna. The Phillips loan signing has tremendous upside, especially if he can echo his Leeds form. If it does go wrong, there's no obligation to buy. I'm still a little worried that we don't have enough Premier League experience, but in Kieran McKenna we trust!

Henry: We have had a great transfer window!

Les: Like the work Ipswich are doing in the transfer market. Great old club, I hope you have a great season. It's good to see a club go up and give it a go.