Ipswich Town vs Portsmouth: Team news, likely lineups, score prediction
Portsmouth travel to Ipswich Town on Saturday hoping to put their embarrassing loss to Sheffield Wednesday behind them.
The 2-0 loss to the Owls at Fratton Park put a dampener on Portsmouth’s bright start to the season.
John Mousinho’s side now have a tricky run of fixtures to contend with, starting with the trip to Portman Road.
Ipswich were relegated from the Premier League this summer, and remain among the favourites to battle for promotion despite their poor start to this season.
Portsmouth have a fair amount of fitness concerns ahead of this match, meaning it could be a tough ask for them to get something from this game.
Form guide – all competitions
Ipswich: WDLDD
Portsmouth: LDWDL
Team news
Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy missed the defeat against Sheffield Wednesday with an ankle injury, but could be in contention to start this match. Mousinho revealed that Murphy is expected to train on Friday and has a 50-50 chance of being involved.
Conor Shaughnessy will definitely miss the game after tearing his hamstring against the Owls, while Conor Chaplin is ineligible to play against his parent club.
However, Yang Min-hyeok, Franco Umeh and Harvey Blair may all be fit enough to play some role at Portman Road.
Ipswich have no injury concerns since their match against Blackburn was called off due to heavy rain.
Predicted line-ups
Ipswich: Palmer, Furlong, O’Shea, Cipre, Davis, Matusiwa, Cajuste, McAteer, Akpom, Philogene, Hirst
Portsmouth: Killip, Swanson, Poole, Knight, Ogilvie, Le Roux, Dozzell, Yang, Segecic, Murphy, Bishop
Prediction: Ipswich 1 Portsmouth 0
Ipswich have suffered a slow start to life back in the Championship, but they are one of the strongest teams in the division and remain a force to be reckoned with at Portman Road.
Kieran McKenna’s side will target this match as a fixture that can kick-start their season in front of the home fans.
Portsmouth have been very good away from home this season, and they’ll do everything they can to make life difficult for the Tractor Boys.
However, Ipswich are strong favourites to win this match. With so many key players missing, it’s difficult to see Portsmouth claiming any points here.
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