Ipswich Town will continue their promotion push when they welcome Swansea City to Portman Road for Saturday’s Championship encounter.
The Tractor Boys are sitting in fourth spot in the Championship table, while the Swans head into the weekend in 15th position
Having won 16, drawn nine and lost seven of their 32 league matches, Ipswich are currently six points away from the automatic promotion spots, with two games in hand over second-placed Middlesbrough.
After losing to Wrexham in the FA Cup and league, Ipswich returned to winning ways in Tuesday’s away clash against Watford.
Sindre Walle Egeli broke the deadlock in the closing stages of the first period, before George Hirst added a second to seal a 2-0 victory at Vicarage Road.
Having played four consecutive matches away from home, Ipswich will be looking forward to a run of three successive games at Portman Road against Swansea, Hull City and Leicester City.
Kieran McKenna’s side have put together a 10-game unbeaten league run on home turf, including six wins in their previous seven Championship outings at Portman Road.
The hosts can also take confidence from the fact they have won each of their last three meetings with Swansea, with their most recent success coming by a 4-1 scoreline in November’s reverse fixture.
Swansea, meanwhile, may still be harbouring hopes of making a push for the top six, with eight points separating them from the playoffs ahead of Saturday’s away trip.
Vitor Matos’s side will travel to Portman Road on the back of four wins in seven matches (D1, L2), including a 1-0 success in last Saturday’s meeting with Bristol City.
They then left it late to rescue a point in Tuesday’s home clash against Preston North End – a game that was watched by Swansea co-owner Snoop Dogg on his first visit to the Welsh side.
While Snoop Dogg’s attendance made headlines, Liam Cullen proved to be the hero of the evening, netting a 95th-minute equaliser to extend Swansea’s unbeaten Championship home run to nine matches.
The Swans have been unable to carry that form on the road, having lost 10 of their 16 away league games this season – only two teams have lost more in the division.
That statistic will temper Swansea’s hopes of claiming their first victory over Ipswich since Wayne Routledge scored in a 1-0 win in April 2019.
Ipswich are expected to be without winger Jaden Philogene, who is constantly being assessed in his recovery from an MCL injury.
Jacob Greaves will continue at left-back if Leif Davis is unable to recover from the knock that forced him to miss the midweek win over Watford.
Anis Mehmeti and Hirst could come into McKenna’s thinking if he opts to freshen up his squad for the home fixture.
As for the Swans, the attacking duo of Zeidane Inoussa and Adam Idah remain sidelined with back and hamstring issues respectively.
Midfielder Marko Stamenic is available for selection after completing a two-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Stamenic is pushing to feature in the middle of the park, while there could also be starting berths for Gustavo Nunes and Cullen.
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Kipre, Greaves; Matusiwa, Greaves; Egeli, Mehmeti, Clarke; Hirst
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Vigouroux; Galbraith, Cabango, Burgess, Tymon; Stamenic, Franco; Nunes, Cullen, Eom; Vipotni
Ipswich boasts the league’s second-best home record, while Swansea have lost eight of their previous 10 away matches, and with that in mind, we can only see this finishing up as a win for the Tractor Boys.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
