At The Match: Routine win for Reds as Ipswich hit for four
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The Athletic FC Podcast Network. Hi Reds, James Pearce here at Anfield where it finished Liverpool 4, Ipswich Town 1. Coming up, we'll hear the best bits from Arne Schlott's press conference and my colleague Andy Jones will drop by to give us his take on what was an absolute cruise for the Reds as they move a step closer to that big prize of the Premier League title. What happened there?

Quickly into Siboszlai. Oh, follows up. It's another one for Liverpool. The Premier League leaders are getting the job done in the first half.

So it's all over here at Anfield. Liverpool emphatic 4-1 winners over Ipswich Town on the slot side, finishing the day where they started it. Six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand. Arsenal kept up their pursuit with a hard-fought win over Wolves, but all Liverpool can do is take care of their own business and they did that with an absolute minimum of fuss here this afternoon. Complete dominance this afternoon.

from start to finish. You think back to August and the opening weekend, Ipswich caused Liverpool a fair few problems, especially in that first half at Portman Road, but not here, not on Liverpool's home turf. It was a mismatch, a real golfing class. Liverpool enjoying 71% possession, 16 shots to three, and they just oozed quality and control in pretty much every single department. The early goal certainly helped

Dominic Zabozlai with a clinical finish from the edge of the box. His third Premier League goal of the season, equalling his league tally for last season. Slotter demanded more from the Hungarian and he's certainly delivering on that front. And what a day for Cody Gagpo. Two goals and an assist. He created the second for Mo Salah. Gagpo with the cross.

it came to who else Bob Mosama and you run out of superlatives for the Egyptian don't you another great day for him moving above Thierry Henry in the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers now he's got 176 to his name Salah's 7th on the all-time list

That goal from, you know, it was a tight angle, wasn't it? Exquisite first touch, an emphatic finish into the roof of the net. That was also his 100th Premier League goal at Anfield and moved him on to 40 goal involvements for the season. 23 goals, 17 assists.

Just crazy, crazy numbers when you think we're still at the back end of January. Gagpo getting a goal himself before the break on hand to score after Zabozlai's strike had been parried. And then I think the second half was only ever going to be a question of how many Liverpool really wanted. Were they really going to put their foot to the floor or were they going to be in cruise control? I thought they didn't really give Ipswich a sniff.

And it did help the fact that Slott was able to make changes, rest players. And then Gagpo had in the fourth with that header from a really exquisite Alexander-Arnold cross. Big day for Van Dijk, his 300th appearance for the club. Again, I thought he was absolutely immense. Just complete the organisation and the leadership he showed were amazing.

just complete dominance didn't give De Lappe a sniff really obviously he was the main danger for Ipswich I think the only annoyance and you could see it on Van Dijk's face was the fact that Liverpool didn't get the clean sheet with Greaves' late consolation but that didn't matter really in the grand scheme of things you go back to the start of the afternoon and I think I think

has really intelligently rotated his squad in recent weeks to try and ensure that there isn't a repeater last season when of course Liverpool ran out of gas in the spring you had Robertson you had Alexander-Arnold Canarte Gagpo and McAllister coming back in with Simakas Bradley Kwanzaa Nunes and Jones

dropping out. Of course, Jones missing out due to injury. And you could sense that freshness in the team. They were bang at it from the start, I thought, Liverpool. And I thought the interesting thing for me from the opening goal from Zabozlai was the fact that we saw Canarte venturing forward and playing a really...

intelligent pass into Zabozlai's feet and he'd found you know a really important pocket of space between Ipswich's defence and midfield and Slott spoke yesterday about how he felt the distribution was probably the one area of Canarte's game that he could improve upon and he said they've been working hard on that on the training pitch and so I think that would have meant a lot to Slott the fact that he that came to fruition here today. The

The second goal, again, brilliant from Gagpo. The vision to pick out Salah at the back post. And as I said, you know, the first touch and the quality of the finish was remarkable from Salah. And then credit to Gravenberg. I thought he was outstanding again today. He was heavily involved in the third goal. It was a Bosley shot parried and there was Gagpo on hand again.

to score and then yeah second second half it was you know I think Ipswich just looked like they wanted to escape with a a degree of their kind of dignity still intact and

It was just really a case of how many were Liverpool going to add to their account. In the end, it was just the one. Alexander-Arnold with the pinpoint cross. Gagpo with the header. I think that's 14 goals now for the season for Gagpo. Closing in on his tally, I think, of 16 for last season. He's in brilliant form as well. And then the changes arrived, and rightly so, because...

Although I don't think Slott needs to rest anyone for PSV in midweek with not an awful lot resting on that one. I think there is that huge game at Bournemouth who absolutely walloped Nottingham Forest today on the horizon next Saturday on the South Coast. That's going to be a big game against Bournemouth. So I think Slott would have had one eye on that when he took off Sabozlai, Gagpo and Gravenberg, brought on Endo, Nunes and Harvey Elliott. Elliott went close today.

Then we saw some precious Premier League minutes for Jadon Dans with McAllister given a breather.

And then there was even the sight of Chiesa late on for Diaz. So, yeah, I'd say a little bit of frustration when Liverpool just clocked off, didn't they? With laps of concentration from the corner. I think Greaves got away from Elliott to nod home that consolation goal for Ipswich. But, yeah, take nothing away from Liverpool today. They were excellent. And you could sense the appreciation around this place. Slot applauding the Kop.

after the final whistle as his name rang around this stadium. Van Dijk as well. I'm sure he took a few moments just to think about how far he's come. He's got the best win percentage out of any player to have reached 300 appearances in Liverpool's history. And when you think of some of the people that have pulled on the shirt over the last 130 years, that is an amazing achievement.

statistic just under 70% win rate I think it is for Van Dijk even the likes of Kenny Doglish I think the figure was around 60% so yeah that applause from Van Dijk to all four sides of the ground was returned with interest because he is the inspirational leader for this team that is on the brink

of achieving something really special this season. So 16 Premier League games to go. It's another one to tick off. And how enjoyable was it to be able to sit through a game where there was no real jeopardy, where right from that early goal from Zabozlai, the outcome wasn't really in doubt. There'll certainly be tougher tests to come, not least at Bournemouth next weekend. But Liverpool can sit back and enjoy the rest of the action this weekend, knowing Zabozlai

They took care of their own business and now the focus will shift to that Champions League game in PSV in midweek where, of course, Liverpool just need a point to be absolutely guaranteed of top spot. But, of course, in the grand scheme of things, that won't make much difference in terms of who they face in the last 16 in March. Liverpool will still face one of the teams that,

finished 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th in that draw. So yeah, it'll be special, of course, for the Dutch contingent going back home for that game on Wednesday night and their return on a high after this absolute demolition of Ipswich. This is Walk On, your dedicated Liverpool podcast from The Athletic.

Well, first up in his press conference, Arne Schlott was asked if that was just about the perfect afternoon for his Liverpool side, considering how comfortable they were. Yeah, that's mostly because we scored an early goal. It's been a few times now that we played a home game that we conceded a goal in the start of the game. But I think today is the way you want to start the game. We were aggressive, dominant for 85 minutes. They hardly have been on our half, I think.

It is a counter-attack threat with the wingers they have and with the lap. But we managed to control that so, so, so well because of the amount of work we've put in. Yeah, and in the end, of course, we're all a bit disappointed with conceding a corner, the first one this season. But for 85 minutes, it was almost the perfect performance against a team that goes to such a low block.

That's not always easy then, but the way we did it for 85 minutes was really good. Well, next up, Slot was asked about Mohamed Salah and rather than his goal-scoring heroics, Slot was asked about his work ethic and especially the way in which he tracked back today to ensure there was no let-up for Ipswich. Mostly it's about Mo, it's about his contract or it's about his goals and now it's about his defensive work rate. So, no, I think...

That stood out because it was a moment which we could all see, but I think if you look at almost all the times we've lost the ball, I saw a reaction of many players like that. And that is what I mean with playing against a team with fast wingers, with a good number nine, that goes to such a low block. It's so difficult to control the counter-attack and the only way to do so is what Mo did in this moment and all the other players did in different moments.

That's why I was pleased with our performance today. The importance of Dominic Zabozlai to this team has grown and grown over the course of the season. Slot was asked about the Hungarian taking a lot more shots in recent weeks than he had done previously. Of course, he played a big part today with that strike for the opening goal. I think that's a development the team is in. When we played Brentford, we had 37 shots.

a record in the Premier League for an away team. And then, because he's involved in that team, he will probably take a few shots then as well. So it is us, the players behind the ball, bringing our attacking players even more in promising positions than we did in the beginning of the season. Then if you zoom in on Dom, I think in the beginning of the season, he would have played that ball to Mo, which was for most of the time a very good choice because Mo can definitely score a goal as well.

And now he decided to go for himself and score the goal himself. So, yeah, nice for him because he's, in my opinion, he's a bit underestimated. Not by me, but he doesn't always get the credits for the fact that he's very important for this team because his work rate is unbelievable. He just keeps on running with the highest intensity.

and that is so important for a team that wants to compete for something. Then the conversation turned to captain fantastic Virgil van Dijk, 300 Liverpool appearances for the Dutchman, and Slot was asked about his influence on this team, both on and off the pitch. If I have to make a list of what Virgil brings to this team, then we can just go to the next press conference on Tuesday evening against PSV, because...

He brings so many positives to this team, bringing the ball out from the back, defending, his composure, is that right? Yes. He's definitely a leader. I haven't, as a manager, worked with a lot of players that can say that they are a leader, but Virgil is definitely a leader. He's always, not only on the pitch, but also on the training ground. The moment we start the training, he's the loudest one.

and always leads by example. So, yeah, he's having a fantastic season, but I think he's already having seven, eight.

fantastic seasons over here. Well, there was certainly a degree of concern around Wataru Endo, who took a blow to the head after a pretty horrible challenge from Julio and Sisco, who I thought was very lucky to escape with a yellow card late on. And Slot was asked how the Japan international was after the game. When the foul was made, I was like, oh, that doesn't look good. And the reactions from the players that were around him showed me that I was like, oh, let's wait and see.

But after the game, immediately during the game already, he shakes his head one or two times and just goes again. His mentality is unbelievable. And he was fine. So it was only a yellow. So I assume that the fear I had was not realistic because...

Yeah, it was only a yellow. And finally, Arne Schlott was asked whether he thought his dad would have been more entertained today by the display that Liverpool put on. Of course, Schlott had revealed in the build-up to this game that his dad said he didn't find it particularly exciting against Lille in midweek and Schlott had to explain to him that that was mainly because of the way that Lille set up and that he couldn't promise free-flowing box office attacking football every single game. But yeah...

I think Slot Senior will have enjoyed that today and this was the Liverpool head coach's take. What I meant and what I said was that after the Lille game, he said for Liverpool standards and maybe even for the standards where my teams play, he found it not as exciting as all the ones before because I think three days before we had 37 shots in away game at Brentford. So I think we've set the bar or the standards

Quite high, even for my father. For him to say maybe the Lille game wasn't as exciting as all the other games I've seen from Liverpool and from my former clubs, it would be a bit simple or cheap to say that he was the biggest fan of Liverpool before I arrived here, because that's simply not true. He was the biggest fan of Feyenoord because I worked there, and at the moment he's one of the biggest fans of Liverpool because I work here.

Obviously it was a brilliant pick-up and finish from Sobbeslai but

Canarte picked the ball up from Virgil van Dijk and threaded a pass between two Ipswich players into Chabot's line to find them which opened up the space it's a type of pass that we're not necessarily used to seeing Canarte play and certainly last season teams were allowing him to have the ball because of

you know his lack of quality on the ball at times it was just really interesting off the back of Slott talking about how you know defensively there are very little improvements that he can make because of his

of his qualities that you know they'd been working really hard with him on bringing the ball out from the back and sort of being able to build from him as well as Raja Van Dijk who we've known the team for years is one of the best passers of the ball out from the back and

particularly those long switches. So I think that was a really positive thing to see from Canarsie and I'm sure Slott will be hoping to see more of it. He did reference that it was a work in progress when he spoke ahead of the game and it still is. But it's another good step in the direction and the important thing is

Canassie looks like he's got the confidence to be able to produce and want to play those types of balls where in the past he may have taken an easier option and obviously off the back of that goal, Sobbesley scored to open the score and it was an important goal, an early goal for Liverpool which they haven't got many of them at Anfield this season. I've had a habit of falling behind at times but you know, of course,

slot challenge Sabah's like earlier in the season to increase his goals and assists and while that's still again another work in progress um

you know he's still trying to meet the totals that he hit last season with seven goals and four assists he's got five assists in all camps already that was his fourth goal today he's third in the league which matches his tally from last season but it was a type of goal he can score you know the quality to take it himself and you know cut inside and then find the bottom corner it's a technical quality that everyone knows he has but the frustration is

the inconsistency of seeing it but you know he produced today and it's another step forward I guess of him and showing that he can do it and hopefully as we can I'd say it provides the confidence moving forward of doing it on a more consistent basis

Well, that's it for me here at Anfield. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, Reds. Liverpool still sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table. I'll be back with Tony Evans and the rest of the team for the Walk On podcast later this week, and I'll catch you then. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.