Kieran McKenna couldn’t hide his excitement at coming up against Liverpool in Ipswich Town’s first Premier League match since 2002.
The Tractor Boys return to the top flight after a 22-year absence by welcoming the Reds to Portman Road for a 12:30pm kick-off on Saturday 17 August, in what’ll also be Arne Slot’s first competitive match in charge of LFC.
Speaking to Sky Sports News shortly after the fixtures were announced this morning, the manager of the newly-promoted outfit was buzzing at the prospect of starting the season against us, swiftly followed by Manchester City away.
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McKenna said: “It’s a fantastic start. Everyone’s gonna be so excited. Two of the biggest clubs in world football, home start against Liverpool. It brings it all to life and it’s an amazing start for us.
“We’re delighted to have a home game first. We know the atmosphere that has been created over the last couple of years in the stadium and we know that will carry on even more so this year.
“It’s great to have a home start, to have one of the best teams in the league for sure. It’s a big challenge and we certainly won’t underestimate the scale of the challenges that we’re gonna have all season. Certainly Liverpool will be that on the first day. The atmosphere’s gonna be fantastic. The players will be as ready as they possibly can be.”
From a Liverpool perspective, this has all the hallmarks of a real banana skin to begin the campaign – an away trip to a promoted side who’ll still be on a high from going up to the Premier League, and at a kick-off time which has often proven nightmarish for the Reds.
We haven’t won on the opening day since 2021 (coincidentally that was also in East Anglia, against Norwich), so it’s time to put that right on 17 August and get the Slot era off to an ideal start!
You can view McKenna’s comments below, via @SkySportsPL on X:
"It's great to have a home start" 🤩
Kieran McKenna reacts to Ipswich Town's opening game of the season against Liverpool 💬 pic.twitter.com/ZAn6yDQUPV
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 18, 2024