Liverpool begin life after Jurgen Klopp at Ipswich Town in the early Saturday kick-off in the Premier League.
Having dropped into League One since their last campaign in the top flight in 2001/02, the Tractor Boys finished second after returning to the Championship and have retained influential manager Kieran McKenna for the challenges that lie ahead.
The Reds said goodbye to Klopp at the end of 2023/24 and are now orchestrated by Dutchman Arne Slot, who oversaw an unbeaten pre-season campaign during the summer.
What time does Ipswich Town vs Liverpool kick-off?
Location: Ipswich, England
Stadium: Portman Road
Date: Saturday 17 August
Kick-off Time: 12:30 BST / 09:30 ET / 06:30 PT
Referee: Tim Robinson
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Ipswich Town vs Liverpool H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Ipswich Town: 1 wins
Liverpool: 3 wins
Draws: 1
Kieran McKenna has done an incredible job to seal back-to-back promotions from the third tier to the Premier League, with Ipswich defying the odds last season to gain automatic promotion to the top-flight. They’re direct, clinical on the counter and exciting to watch with plenty of late drama and Ipswich will add something very different to the Premier League this season. Think of them as a beefed-up Luton Town.
Liverpool will be very different this season too, as Jurgen Klopp is gone and Arne Slot embarks on his first season in charge of the Reds. There will be subtle tweaks to their playing style and the majority of the squad has remained the same, so Slot is all about evolution rather than revolution. Still, expectations are high with Liverpool back in the Champions League and expected to push for the title once again as they hung in there until the final month of last season before Man City and Arsenal kicked on and left Liverpool in their wake.
The star player to watch out for is Omari Hutchinson, as the winger was on loan from Chelsea last season and ripped up the Championship. Ipswich have signed him permanently and Hutchinson, 20, is their main man in attack. Elsewhere they have an experienced midfield (Massimo Luongo and Sam Morsy) and Leif Davis is an attacking left back who will cause plenty of problems for Premier League defenses. Ipswich do have some injury issues to navigate, as forwards George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead are out for the first few months of the campaign, while defender Harry Clarke is also missing.