Liverpool’s major contract talks are more important than ever after win vs Ipswich

Liverpool’s next major contract talks are more important than ever after the Reds’ 2-0 win vs Ipswich Town on Saturday.

Liverpool beat Ipswich Town 2-0 in their Premier League opener on Saturday. It was Arne Slot's first competitive game in charge of the Reds and a promising one, too.

But it also highlighted just how important Liverpool's upcoming contract talks are. They now look more important than ever.

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The club have the not-so-simple matter of tying down Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Now, the first two are debatable - both are into their 30s and it's unclear whether long-term contracts are actually sensible at this point.

Alexander-Arnold is a no-brainer, though. He's someone Liverpool simply can't afford to lose and no one needed the win on Saturday to remember that.

But that win did highlight just how important these three still are to the club.

Salah was the easiest to understand, of course. He assisted the first and scored the second (breaking a record in the process) - without him, Liverpool simply don't win that game.

Alexander-Arnold was also vital. He supplied the pass that tore Ipswich open for the fist goal, while before that he'd put it on a plate twice for Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota. Both missed, however.

And Van Dijk captained the team, overseeing a clean sheet and helping create the second goal with one of his sensational switches to get Salah into the game.

Liverpool's contract problems

Maybe things change drastically over the next season - we'll hope they do. But it's abundantly clear after what we've just seen that Liverpool are as reliant on these three as ever.

They fail to defeat a newly-promoted Ipswich without them. The idea that the trio could all leave for free next summer is terrifying - they're simply not all getting replaced.

Liverpool need to nail these talks. Maybe losing one isn't a disaster. Losing two would be difficult. Losing three - or even just Alexander-Arnold - would be a disaster.