Having gone top of the Championship standings, Ipswich Town will be looking to fend off the chasers as they host Southampton on Monday night. Ipswich have looked imperious lately and although the Saints gave the quality to make things difficult, a home win is still expected here.
Ipswich Town have climbed to the top of the standings after claiming a 1-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers last time out in the Championship. Conor Chaplin struck the only goal early in the first half and they were able to hold on for the win.
Sitting top of the standings means Ipswich Town are now the target of the chasing pack and must maintain their good form to remain in front. The good news for Kieran McKenna’s side is that they have shown plenty of consistency and character lately, winning eight of their last nine matches.
Ipswich Town have also been solid at home, winning their last four matches at Portman Road. However, they often struggle to maintain their defensive discipline having kept just two clean sheets in their last 14 Championship matches in front of their fans.
Southampton are coming off a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough in their previous Championship fixture. They held on to Adam Armstrong's early lead for long periods before conceding the equaliser on the stroke of 90 minutes.
The Saints remain in the hunt for a playoff place as they sit fourth on the table having gone unbeaten in their last three matches. However, a closer look at their recent form shows some inconsistency having picked up just three wins from their last seven matches.
Southampton will travel to Portman Road with plenty of confidence having impressed on their recent travels. Russell Martin’s men have won four of their last five Championship away matches.
How the bookies view it
The bookies are expecting a closely fought encounter with a win for Ipswich Town priced at 13/8 by bet365 while BoyleSports is also offering 13/8 for a Southampton victory. A draw is set at odds of 5/2 by BetVictor.
Head to head
Southampton have a 19-18 edge with 15 draws from 52 previous matches against Ipswich Town. However, Ipswich claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in September.
Players to watch
Conor Chaplin has shown some good form lately with four goals in his last seven matches. The forward remains the leading scorer for Ipswich Town with 13 goals and is priced at 11/5 by Paddy Power to find the net on Monday.
As always, Southampton will look to Adam Armstrong to provide the spark in attack having found the net 19 times this season. The forward has also been on target in his last three matches and is priced at 2/1 by Paddy Power to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Southampton have seen over 3.5 goals in two of their last three matches and a repeat is priced at 8/5 with Unibet. Ipswich Town have scored in both halves in four of their last five home matches and a similar pattern is priced at 9/4 with bet365.
Ipswich Town have opened the scoring in five of their last six matches and could be backed to grab the first goal on Monday at evens with 10bet.
This England Championship match between Ipswich Town and Southampton will be played on Apr 1, 2024 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Ipswich Town vs Southampton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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