Premier League REVIEW 4 Sep 2026: the model leaned Ipswich, and Isak tore up the script

Not one the model saw coming: it leaned narrowly to Ipswich at home, and Liverpool tore the script up inside nine minutes. Alexander Isak scored in the 6th and again in the 9th, Cody Gakpo providing both, and Andoni Iraola had the first win of his Liverpool tenure after the draws at Newcastle and against Nottingham Forest.

The second was the pick of them: Gakpo found Isak with a trivela pass and the striker finished low past Kjell Scherpen. Ipswich, who had scored four across their opening two games, never found one here; Julio Enciso was booked in the 41st and the changes Gary O'Neil made after the hour, Jack Clarke and Zian Flemming among them, could not force a way back.

The night also brought the debut the build-up had promised: Bradley Barcola, signed from Paris Saint-Germain, came on in the 64th and looked assured on the left, with Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Federico Chiesa among five players still unavailable. For Isak, whose first Liverpool season was wrecked by a broken leg, a two-goal evening was the statement his return had been waiting for.