Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion Preview
This week in the EFL Championship, Ipswich Town welcomes West Bromwich Albion to Portman Road. As we get toward the tail end of the season, each game becomes more and more important. West Brom is only one place behind Ipswich in the league table, but the Tractor Boys have been in poor form of late. Can they shake off their winless run on Sunday, February 11th at 12:30 pm?
This will be the 30th game either side has played this season, and Ipswich has an 11-point advantage over fifth-placed Albion. However, only a few weeks ago, Ipswich was up there with the likes of Leicester and Southampton for one of the automatic promotion spots. West Brom is the best of the rest on 48 points but defeats this late in the season can be disastrous. Who has what it takes to take this match by the scruff of the neck?
Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion Head-To-head and Key Stats
While these teams faced off consistently in the 90s, Ipswich vs West Brom has only taken place three times in the last 14 years. In those three matches, Ipswich is yet to record a victory. The last time the Tractor Boys hosted this fixture was in 2018, and the Albion had a much stronger team. They had premier league talent, including Sam Johnstone, Matt Phillips, Kieran Gibbs, and Craig Dawson. With goals from Jay Rodriguez and Harvey Barnes, West Brom won 2-1 on the road.
In the reverse fixture, West Brom held Ipswich to a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. Stefan Johansen scored for the Baggies with four minutes on the clock. The home side had a free kick just outside the box and Johansen fired a low shot into the crowd. A deflection wrongfooted Bartosz Białkowski, and Ipswich had to recover from an early setback. Even though the Baggies were dominant in the first half, the score remained 1-0 until the 48th minute. Bree fired in a cross to the edge of the box, and Jon Nolan’s brilliant header found the back of the net. Ipswich were bottom of the Championship in March 2019, and the 1-1 draw was the last game Darren Moore managed the Midlands side.
The most recent meeting between the clubs came at the end of November 2023. West Brom welcomed Ipswich to the Hawthorns and took the lead in the opening minutes. Matt Phillips took a flat and pacey corner from the far side. An unmarked Darnell Furlong was there to flick it home. Although it was a brilliant header, Ipswich switched off inside the opening five minutes. Dodgy defending nearly doubled the Albions’ lead before halftime, with Woolfenden and Burgees looking unsure at the back.
Within two minutes of the restart, West Brom punished the visitors with a brilliant counterattacking goal. Jed Wallace led the breakaway, and it was four attackers against two defenders. Wallace passes it to Thomas-Asante, who plays in Grady Diangana. Diangana hesitates but makes no mistake finding the far post and doubling the Baggies advantage. A few minutes later, Phillips should have put the game to bed but somehow missed an empty net three yards out from the goal.
Both sides enter this contest having struggled in recent weeks. Ipswich lost their last league game away at Preston and to Maidstone at home in the FA Cup the week before. West Brom beat a struggling Birmingham 1-0 last weekend but lost to Wolves in the FA Cup and Norwich in the Championship. Ipswich Town has only won two of their last eight games in all competitions. Whereas, the Baggies have won five of their last nine.
West Bromwich Albion is the better side heading into the match this weekend. However, Ipswich needs to get some results going to get the season back on track. It’s probably too late to mount a real charge for first in the division, but they need to get more points on the board to avoid scrapping with the chasing pack. A win against the Baggies will help steady the ship and could be a statement victory, given how many matches we have left.
Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion Predictions
Predicting soccer matches is never straightforward, especially at this stage of the season. Both sides are aiming for a top-six finish, but a lot can change between now and the last game of the season. Usually, when betting on the Championship, teams playing at home have the upper hand on match day. While that is the case for this fixture, it’s a lot closer than you might expect. Looking at the markets available at the Novibet online sports betting site, Ipswich to win has odds of 11/10. Betting €10 on Ipswich to win will return €21.00, significantly more than your typical favourite. West Brom to get a result away from home is 12/5, which returns €34 from a ten-euro wager.
This week, our soccer prediction matches what the bookmakers are suggesting. We predict Ipswich will beat West Bromwich by two goals to none. Looking at the recent results, Ipswich must pull something out of the bag this weekend. In front of a home crowd, a once strong-looking season is slipping away. The Albions’ four most recent defeats to Wolves, Norwich, Swansea, and Middleborough have all been by one or two goals to nil. That means if they cannot get on the score sheet, they will most likely lose this game.
Betting on Ipswich the past couple of weeks has been a bitter disappointment. There was a period this season where they looked the most likely to challenge the likes of Leicester and Southampton. Now they are 13 points down on the leaders and are edging away from the second automatic promotion spot. Let’s get one thing clear: Ipswich is not in immediate danger. They are fourth in the Championship, 11 points ahead of West Brom in fifth. This is not a make-or-break game for Ipswich, but they must turn their form around soon.
This is a six-point match for West Brom. If they pick up all three points, they close in on the top four while edging away from the pursuing pack. There are ten clubs within ten points of the Baggies, which shows just how dominant the top four have been this year. Even if Ipswich loses, they have a nine-point cushion over the side from Birmingham. However, with only one win in their last five league games, the Tractor Boys must find another gear if they want any chance at promotion this season.
Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion Betting Tips
If you are a fan of betting on soccer games, this high-stakes match should be one to look out for. Games like this are important for both sides, but that does not mean it will go the way you are expecting. Saving your bet for game day could be the way to go, given how neither team has been consistent recently. You could wait and see how the game starts, then place a live wager on the event.
If you are determined to get a bet done before the match, what options are there? Given Ipswich has not won in this fixture in the last three attempts, a wager on the full-time result could be tricky. One market that caught our eye was whether both teams would score. Betting against both teams scoring this weekend has odds of 9/10. That means your €20 wager will yield €38 if only one team scores in 90 minutes. You can also look at both teams to score over 2.5 goals in total. Choosing no for this market at 5/4 will turn your €20 to €45.
Betting on Ipswich this weekend is risky. They are without a league win in three games, following an impressive 1-1 draw at Leicester. Many have voiced their concerns over Ipswich in the past few weeks, but we still think they can get the job done. Perhaps even hold on to a clean sheet. However, in their most recent clashes with the Albion and against Preston last week, Ipswich started on the back foot. Last weekend they were 2-0 down inside ten minutes and only responded with 15 minutes to go. They gave themselves too much to do and lost 3-2, even with Kieffer Moore providing a brace.
Kieffer's brace. ⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/cHbRExUtgN
— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) February 3, 2024
If you are looking to bet on this soccer match in advance, Kieffer Moore, to score on his home debut, looks like a good shout to us. He came in the January transfer window to bolster Ipswich up front, and there is no way he won’t make an impact this weekend. West Brom only narrowly squeaked past Birmingham last weekend with an 85th-minute winner from new signing Andreas Weimann. Betting on Weimann to get an assist this weekend feels like another alternative if you don’t believe Ipswich can hold a clean sheet.
Ipswich Town Team News
Ipswich recruited well during the transfer window. They brought in Moore on loan from Bournemouth, who has already proven his worth, plus players like Ali Al-Hamadi from Wimbledon. Lewis Travis came in from Blackburn, and Jeremy Sarmiento came from Brighton. George Hirst will be unavailable for quite some time following his hamstring injury. He picked up the injury on December 27, 2023, and might not make a return for the rest of the season.
West Bromwich Albion Team News
West Brom lost the services of Jeremy Sarmiento right at the start of the January transfer window. The winger made 23 appearances for the Baggies scoring three goals. Parent club Brighton & Hove Albion recalled Sarmiento and loaned him to Ipswich two days later. Could he come back to haunt the Albion this weekend? The only other noteworthy addition during the window is former Aston Villa midfielder Andreas Weimann. The 32-year-old could prove instrumental in seeing the Baggies over the line this weekend.
