Ipswich Town welcome Newcastle United to Portman Road on Saturday in a special fixture that will honour the legacy of Sir Bobby Robson, who made a lasting impact at both clubs during his illustrious career.
Ipswich head into the match buoyed by a dramatic late victory over Wolverhampton and will be eager to build on that momentum with back-to-back Premier League wins—something they haven’t achieved in 22 years. Meanwhile, Newcastle will be looking to turn their fortunes around after an inconsistent run that has seen them claim just three wins in their last 12 league outings.
The Tractor Boys will also be keen to bounce back in front of their home supporters after heartbreak in their previous match at Portman Road, where they conceded twice in the final five minutes to lose 2-1 to Bournemouth. With both sides eager for points and plenty of emotion surrounding the occasion, this promises to be an intriguing contest.
How the bookies view it: More heartbreak for the Tractor Boys
The bookmakers are heavily favouring Newcastle for this fixture, with BoyleSports pricing Ipswich at 4.33 to win, while Newcastle are as short as 1.73. This marks Newcastle’s shortest odds for an away match all season. Interestingly, the last time Newcastle were this heavily favoured on the road was against Luton in December 2023, a match they surprisingly lost 1-0.
Head to head: Honours even
The two teams last met during the 2016/17 Championship season. Newcastle comfortably won the home fixture 3-0, but Ipswich claimed a 3-1 victory at Portman Road later that season. Notably, Newcastle went on to win the Championship that year, securing promotion back to the Premier League.
Players to watch: Goals, cards and fouls
Alexander Isak is a striker in red-hot form, having scored in each of his last three Premier League matches. This season, he has netted seven goals from 14 starts, taking 41 shots during that period. Boylesports have him as the favourite to find the net, offering odds of 5.0 to open the scoring and 2.1 to score at any time.
Meanwhile, Bruno Guimaraes is the most fouled player in the Premier League, drawing an average of 3.63 fouls per 90 minutes. He will be up against Sam Morsy, who is just one booking away from suspension and has committed the eighth-most fouls in the league this season. This matchup could be key, with Morsy needing to tread carefully to avoid further disciplinary trouble.
Predicted line-ups
Ipswich will be without the suspended Liam Delap, who received his fifth booking last weekend, and with George Hirst sidelined due to injury, they face a dilemma up front. Sammy Szmodics is expected to step into the striker role. For Newcastle, Joelinton is also suspended, and these two absences are likely to be the only changes for either side heading into the match.
Ipswich Town: Muric, Clarke, O'Shea, Burgess, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste, Burns, Chaplin, Hutchinson; Al Hamadi
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Guimaraes, Willock, Murphy, Gordon, Isak
Anything else catch the eye?
With Newcastle as the bookmakers' favourites to take all three points, there is value in focusing on Ipswich for our main bets. The Tractor Boys have been competitive in nearly all their games this season, and this does not look like a match where the visitors will win comfortably. Newcastle have kept just three clean sheets in their last 27 away Premier League games, so Ipswich should have enough to get on the scoresheet.
Conor Chaplin is likely to start in the number 10 role, and since returning to the team, he has registered seven shots across his last two matches. Ipswich will create opportunities, and with Chaplin operating just off the striker, he is well-positioned to find space and take shots at goal. Additionally, Ipswich have won at least four corners in seven of their eight home matches this season, while Newcastle concedes an average of five corners per game.
Backing Conor Chaplin to have over 1.5 shots and Ipswich to register at least four corners is available at 2.2 with BoyleSports.
For another angle, considering Newcastle’s defensive vulnerabilities, backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals also present a strong betting option at 1.91 with Boylesports
This English Premier League match between Ipswich Town and Newcastle United will be played on Dec 21, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ipswich Town vs Newcastle United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
