Liverpool travel to Portman Road on Friday evening to take on Premier League new boys, Ipswich Town, with both side harbouring a number of injuries ahead of time
Andoni Iraola looks
Andoni Iraola has player injuries to balance(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
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As many as eight players could be missing from action as Ipswich Town play host to Liverpool on Friday evening. The Premier League is back underway at Portman Road, as Andoni Iraola's Reds look to secure their first win of the season.
Liverpool's opening day clash with Newcastle United at St James' Park finished all-square at 2-2, while last weekend's outing with Nottingham Forest at Anfield resulted in the same scoreline. As a result, the Reds currently sit 13th in the English top flight standings, still yet to truly kickstart their 2026/27 campaign.
Ipswich, meanwhile, sit just a place above Liverpool on the table, having enjoyed a 2-1 win in their curtain-raiser with Sunderland AFC, before slipping to a 5-2 thrashing from Manchester United less than a week ago. They will look to build some form of momentum against the Reds on Friday as they hope to survive their first season back in the Premier League.
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However, that's no easy feat considering the difference in talent between the Tractor Boys and the Reds, and considering player injuries headed into the encounter. Ipswich will be missing at least three first-team players for the fixture, with Gary O'Neill confirming that Jaden Philogene, Jack Taylor and Azor Matusiwa will not take part.
Philogene is on the road to recovery from an ankle issue, and is expected to be out for at least another week. The timeframe for Taylor and Matusiwa is the same, as they continue to battle back from respective knee and thigh problems.
While Florentino Luis and Emersonn were both initially doubts for the encounter, O'Neill has since confirmed that both are available for selection. Ipswich are not the only side harbouring injuries headed into this weekend's match, however.
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Iraola looks to be without at least five players when the 8pm kick-off comes, with a number of long-term setbacks to navigate. Hugo Ekitike is still in recovery for an Achilles tendon rupture sustained in the Champions League earlier this year, and is not expected to be back until the end of the year.
Giovanni Leoni, meanwhile, has not played competitively for the club since sustaining an ACL issue on his debut 12 months ago. Iraola said of the centre-half: "I think the plan is also to start training during the [international] break, with the group."
Conor Bradley has also been dealing with a serious knee issue of his own since January, undergoing surgery and recovering since. The Northern Irishman is not expected to return until December at the earliest.
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Joe Gomez also remains away from the first-team as a result of a muscular injury, with Liverpool looking relatively threadbare in terms of depth at centre-half. Iraola said of the Englishman: "Closest one is Joe, he will start training with us next week and it has gone normally.
"The recovery from a muscle injury - more or less, we were expecting the time on this. I hope we can have him before the break, let’s say."
Finally, Federico Chiesa will also miss Friday's match as a result of a lower back injury. The Italian forward is expected to return this month, but the Ipswich outing has come a little too soon for his participation.