Mo Salah scores as Liverpool begin Arne Slot era with win at Ipswich
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MO Salah claimed his latest Premier League record as Arne Slot enjoyed a winning start to his Anfield reign.
Liverpool improved markedly after a sluggish first-half to stretch their 12-year unbeaten record on opening day, as their Egyptian star scored in the first match of the campaign for the ninth time - more than any player in the Premier League era.
Diogo Jota was also on the scoresheet as two goals in the space of five minutes early in the second-half ensured Slot bettered his predecessor Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge, the German having to settle for a point in a stalemate against Tottenham nine years ago.
Salah marked his 350th Liverpool appearance with his 212nd goal for the club to seal a successful start for Liverpool's new Dutch head coach, whose side inflicted on Town a first home league defeat for almost a year in a sobering lesson to the harsh realities of the top flight.
On a baking-hot Suffolk afternoon, the Anfield side didn't so much have to weather the storm, more ensure they didn't wilt under a predictable early barrage from the exuberant hosts, whose fans provided an utterly vibrant atmosphere to welcome them back in the top flight after a 22-year absence.
It took the visitors until the final minute of the first-half to muster an attacking threat, as Trent Alexander-Arnold fired over the bar from the edge of the area at the culmination of a rare coherent move from Slot's side.
Most of their time in the opening three-quarters of an hour was spent attempting to stem a series of energetic Ipswich attacks, defender Jacob Greaves setting the tone with a powerful downward header from an early free-kick to force a hurried save from Allison.
The Brazilian also had to be alert to block a low long-range effort from Omari Hutchinson after a 70-yard counter-attack following a Liverpool corner. Axel Tuanzebe then headed onto the roof of the net when the Reds switched-off at a quick free-kick.
Some choice words from Slot at the interval had the desired effect, with the visitors unrecognisable from their under-par 45 minutes in a transformed second-half display.
Greaves blocked a goal-bound Salah shot at a corner, before Jota somehow managed to head wide when meeting a peach of a cross from Alexander-Arnold unmarked five yards out.
The Portuguese soon made amends, sweeping home the opener on the hour when the increasingly influential Alexander-Arnold released Salah to square an inviting pass across the area which was dispatched with clinical efficiency.
Liverpool quickly doubled their advantage when after taking a long-range Virgil van Dijk pass, Salah swapped passes with Dominik Szoboszlai before poking the ball past Christian Walton from close range. It sealed an outcome Ipswich rarely looked capable of challenging, and one which would have been far more emphatic but for a fine display from the over-worked Town keeper.
: Walton 7; Tuanzebe 5, Woolfenden 6, Greaves 6, Davis 6; Morsy 6, Luongo 6 (Taylor 65, 5) (Szmodics 74, 6); Burns 6 (Johnson 57, 6), Chaplin 6 (Harness 65, 5), Hutchinson 5; Delap 5 (Al Hamadi 74, 6).
Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 (Bradley 77, 6), Quansah 5 (Konate 46, 7), van Dijk 7, Robertson 7 (Tsimikas 80, 6); Szoboszlai 7, Gravenberch 6, MacAllister 7; Salah 8, Jota 8 (Gakpo 79, 6), Diaz 5.
: Tim Robinson