> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Enciso shines as Town pay for slow start against Liverpool - URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/enciso-shines-as-town-pay-for-slow-start-against-liverpool/ - Published: 2026-09-07T06:35:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-07T06:35:35.000Z - Description: Two early Isak goals put Ipswich on the back foot at Portman Road, and despite a battling response, led by star man Julio Enciso, the damage was already done, Barbara Norrey reports. - Author: Barbara Norrey - Tags: Opinion, Ipswich Town FC ## Pre-match preamble Another heavyweight match today, but hopefully, being played at a packed and noise-filled Portman Road will give us an advantage. The predicted result, by whoever predicts these things, has Liverpool 64% likely to win and a 19% rating for a possible draw. You can work the other one out for yourself. I was curious to see how these stats were derived and found much talk of negative binomial and Poisson distribution – the latter sounding similar to French "fish". Perhaps that's where they got the inspiration for the World Cup octopus? That seemed a little top-heavy in favour of the "Reds", especially when you look at the table and find we are in 12th position whilst they sit way below us at 13th. Worry not, I won't be having table-position freak-outs every week this early in the season – hah! That way lies madness. I won't attempt my usual potted history of our opponents either, as the players and managers, past and present, and the Club itself are well known around the world. There are countless books, films and videos devoted to Liverpool Football Club; they have such a rich and interesting past with memories full of success, celebration, and tragedy. Many highs and lows. On the train, I made new friends, Tom and Dad Chris, who predicted the score the other way round. I walked to the ground with a family of three from Mexico – Samuel Felix, dad Fernando Felix and mum Egla Calderon. I do hope they enjoyed the game despite the score – Samuel's previous experience was at Oxford last year (he wouldn't get a job as Town's lucky charm). In the queue to the turnstiles, I kept company with Chris and David from the US – a very different conversation about the Club, the owners and our Ed. But lots of jokes too. I arrived just in time for the pyrotechnic show. ## The match Down to business. The first half was a little turgid from Town, and when the Reds scored two goals in less than ten minutes, I felt that impending dread of an upcoming rugby score and humiliation. The first goal came from a clever pass from Gakpo, across the circle to Isak, who netted easily past Scherpen at the near post. The clinical simplicity of it was a little disconcerting. The second goal, a few minutes later, was a well-worked opportunity by Isak – defeating Greaves with a twist and a turn, he easily fired it past Scherpen, who was out of his goal. It felt disastrous when a third goal was netted by the Reds before half-time, but it was mercifully ruled offside, somewhat of a feature in this match. **HT: Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool** I think the crowd sighed with relief when we managed to reach half-time with no further damage. The second half was much livelier, with chances at both ends, but Liverpool were adept at slowing the game down, wasting time in a number of ways – some subtle, some blatant, which had the fans howling. They played very high up the field, which resulted in frustrating offside decisions against Town. The referee dealt with it all extremely well, ignoring Liverpool players who blatantly went down as if shot, and stayed there, for no apparent reason. Their subsequent reluctant rise and run back into play met with shouts of derision from Town fans. Thanks go to Mr Darren England, one of the best, an experienced Premier League referee with six years' service, who had complete control of the game from start to finish. Another calamitous happening saw what appeared to be a penalty award for the Reds, but the referee adjudged that a previous offside negated anything that followed. A foul stops the run of play, so anything that comes after it is irrelevant. Shades of our appeal in the last game after Maguire's handball. Interestingly, Manchester United are still talking about it even though they got the decision – or got away with it – depending on your opinion. Methinks they do protest too much. I saw my grandson Carl today, an avid amateur football player for many years and an avid Manchester United fan for at least thirty. He surprised me by saying it was definitely a deliberate handball, and the goal should have been ruled out. Mind you, when the final score is 5-2, I guess you can be magnanimous to your grandmother. Town kept pressing, and the game got livelier with the substitution of Clarke and Flemming, who looked like a promising future combination up front. The Reds responded by throwing many bodies into defence, and their Brazilian international goalkeeper Alisson, reputedly one of the best in the world, was well-equipped to save a shot from McAteer. Clarke and Enciso fired wide, with one shot taking a deflection. It was just not to be. At full-time, with no further goals for Liverpool, I felt a sense of relief rather than disappointment. I overheard a bunch of people on the train saying more or less the same thing. Putting it into perspective, player-wise and playing-together-wise, we were always going to be on the back foot. There have been many mentions of our big spending in this window, with twelve "incoming" players (not counting Kipre and Akpom), but Town's total expenditure would possibly buy you two of Liverpool's squad – Alexander Isak and Milos Kerkez, for example. The chasm between the Premiership elite teams and many others is still very much alive and kicking. **FT: Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool** ## The team I'm going to say it how I saw it, and be a little blunter than normal. Initially, it felt like Town had thrown the baby out with the bathwater: players missing that I expected to start, and players that I thought would be on the bench, not named at all. Jack Clarke and Zian Flemming played well and injected pace when they came off the bench. Lovely Leif was not quite as on point as usual. Maeda's work rate was admirable – as always, he never stops – but he has so far lacked the finishing touch. Fatawu – he didn't always get it quite right, but he put in a mammoth effort. Palacios was clever, produced some good passes, but needs more time to familiarise himself with the various strengths of his teammates – understandably. Scherpen made some good saves, but I confess I find him worrying. O'Shea seems a little lost in his new position. All the rest can be commended for keeping their heads up and fighting in a tough situation. Liverpool defended so very effectively. But we managed it too. ## Our MotM Enciso – he was everywhere, even though he was well marked. Runners-up – Flemming and Clarke. Overall man of the match – Alexander Isak. ## Team news Zian Flemming joined Town a few days ago from Burnley, with negotiations going to the wire on the transfer window's closing day. Zian is a 28-year-old Dutch footballer from Amsterdam who has come to us from Burnley, so he has some Premiership experience, contributing 11 goals last year to Burnley's efforts to stay in the top tier. He's a 6ft 1in right-footed forward, or attacking midfielder, who now wears our number 9\. I like what little we've seen so far and was impressed by his first interview on Town TV, very honest and responsive. ## Post-match pondering Wandering and pondering, I was brought abruptly to a halt by a large heap of people corralled outside the station by a police cordon. Nothing exciting had occurred, just a problem with the signals; trains were not running, and it was felt to be the best way to deal with any congestion build-up. Very sensible. Finally on our way, the train was strangely quiet and understandably quite full too. I was lucky enough to bump into Dave, Matt and Rob, who I haven't seen for a while, and who very kindly gave me a lift home. Many thanks, guys – great to see you again in this new season. ## Final thoughts Liverpool had done their homework well and knew which of our players to neutralise. Though, strangely, their strategy in the second half appeared to be just for all their players to be where the ball happened to be. To carry this off, you have to be alert and react fast to breakaways, at which, it turned out, they were adept. Takeaways? Commendably, Town didn't collapse when going 2-0 down in less than ten minutes, and to fight through the next 87 minutes without conceding again was no mean feat. It showed spirit and determination. I think another few games (and training sessions) will help inform their play, make them more truly a "team", but that's not unexpected considering our newest two signings have hardly been here long enough to hang up their coats. That process needs to happen quickly for obvious reasons. I'm looking forward to watching a close-knit team form an understanding … to develop and bring that to the pitch. I believe we have the raw materials; we now just need the soldering iron. Then, with optimism and belief, we can watch those fat three points come rolling through the door. Onwards and upwards.