Ipswich Town host Le Havre at Portman Road on Tuesday, kicking off at 7.45pm, in what will be their first home fixture of preseason as preparations continue ahead of their Premier League return.
Ipswich secured promotion as Championship runners-up last season, finishing second on 84 points and sealing their return to the top flight with a 3-0 victory over QPR on the final day. Kieran McKenna resigned in June after guiding the club back to the Premier League, with Gary O'Neil arriving from Strasbourg on a three-year contract following a season that brought a Conference League semi-final and Coupe de France success.
Ipswich have backed their new manager with almost £84 million of investment, headlined by Emersonn from Toulouse, Abdul Fatawu from Leicester City, Issa Diop from Fulham and Daizen Maeda from Celtic, alongside Chuba Akpom, Cedric Kipre, Kjell Scherpen and Kayne van Oevelen.
Le Havre secured another season in Ligue 1 after finishing 14th with 35 points. Their underlying numbers suggest they deserved slightly more. An xG of 38.4 exceeded their goal return, while converting only 32 goals from 66 big chances highlighted a lack of cutting edge in front of goal.
Defensively, they conceded only 44 league goals from an xGA of 51.4, indicating an organised side that consistently restricted the damage despite allowing chances. Josh Maja has arrived on a free transfer from West Bromwich Albion to provide greater firepower ahead of the new campaign.
Ipswich's preseason has produced mixed results. A 2-1 defeat to Osasuna was followed by a split-squad day, with one side losing 2-0 to Oxford United while a stronger XI beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 thanks to two goals from Cameron Humphreys after Emre Tezgel had opened the scoring.
Daizen Maeda made his first appearance for the club and impressed during his first-half cameo after returning from the World Cup. Kjell Scherpen, Christian Walton, Jaden Philogene and Azor Matusiwa all missed out through injury, while Harry Clarke was left out with a move away from Portman Road expected.
Le Havre have also experienced mixed fortunes, opening with a 2-1 defeat to Amiens before beating Red Star by the same scoreline. The trip to Suffolk is their third preseason fixture before concluding preparations against UNFP and Le Mans.
How the bookies view it
At the time of writing there are no odds available for this fixture.
Head to head: First meeting
These clubs have no meaningful history, with this expected to be their first meeting.
Player to watch: Abdul Fatawu starting to look the real deal
Abdul Fatawu already looks capable of becoming one of Ipswich's key attacking outlets. The £20 million signing from Leicester City started 43 of the club's 44 Championship matches last season, contributing nine goals and seven assists, and quickly caught the eye against Wycombe with a series of dangerous deliveries from the right.
Another encouraging display would strengthen the early signs that he can carry that creativity into the Premier League.
Predicted line ups
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Palmer; Furlong, O'Shea, Diop, Davis; Humphreys, Nunez; Fatawu, Mehmeti, Maeda; Akpom.
Le Havre (4-3-3): Diaw; Doucouré, Sangante, Lloris, Zouaoui; Ndiaye, Seko, Ebonog; Kechta, Soumare, Samatta.
Anything else catch the eye?
Ipswich are still searching for attacking rhythm under Gary O'Neil. Eight new signings are bedding into a new system, several senior players remain unavailable through injury and clear-cut chances have been limited across recent friendlies.
Le Havre's defensive profile also supports a lower-scoring contest. They consistently outperformed their xGA last season through an organised structure, although they offered limited attacking threat themselves.
With both clubs still building towards full fitness and neither side showing sustained attacking fluency during preseason, this looks more likely to be a controlled contest than an open one. My preferred angle, once markets become available, would be under 2.5 goals.
GambleAware