Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool: result and report

Report

Liverpool won 2-0 at Ipswich Town and got the away win they were expected to get. The match was decided much earlier than the overall performance would suggest, though.

The decisive work took nine minutes. Alexander Isak scored on six minutes, then again on nine, and Cody Gakpo set up both goals.

Gakpo was named player of the match because both of Liverpool's goals came from his passes.

The chance numbers point to a closer contest than the scoreline. Ipswich Town finished with more xG, 1.03 to 0.71, while also taking more shots, 10 to 8, and making more key passes, 13 to 10. They also sustained more pressure on average across the game.

So Liverpool did not win by creating chance after chance. They won because they turned a modest set of openings into two goals, while Ipswich Town turned theirs into none.

Liverpool's edge in front of goal

Liverpool still had the sharper shooting. They put seven efforts on target to Ipswich Town's five. They then saved all five that came their way, which is why the clean sheet held despite the home side's higher chance quality.

That counts in Liverpool's favour. Even so, a winner with less than one expected goal has relied on finishing more than on volume of chances.