Gary O'Neil is living on borrowed time at Wolverhampton Wanderers and it's hard to see the Molineux boss surviving if he fails to deliver three precious points in this Premier League relegation battle with Ipswich Town.
Monday's clash with West Ham United in London was dubbed ‘El Sackico' with O'Neill and Julen Lopetegui both under huge pressure and it was the Spaniard who came out on top as two bets landed for me.
That 2-1 defeat has left Wolves four points adrift of safety but they now face an Ipswich Town side who are only above them in the table on goal difference.
Kieran McKenna's side made an encouraging start to life in the top flight and claimed their first win with a shock 2-1 triumph away to Spurs that brought up two more bets for me.
They followed it up with a good point at home to Manchester United but have since lost three in a row to fall back into trouble and desperately need to get something at Molineux to avoid being cut adrift.
How the bookies view it: Tractor Boys stuck in the mud
Ipswich Town are outsiders for this one, with BoyleSports pricing the promoted side at 14/5 for what would be a huge win. Despite their poor recent form, Wolverhampton Wanderers are 20/23 favourites and the draw pays 13/5.
Recent head to head: Ipswich eye repeat of cup win
These sides faced off in the League Cup last season and it was Ipswich who came out on top, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a Portman Road thriller. That ended a seven-game run without defeat for Wolves in this fixture, although five of those matches ended in draws.
Players to watch: Wolves seek a Mat finish
Matheus Cunha was pretty quiet in the defeat to West Ham but still remains the biggest threat in the Wolves side by quite some distance. The Brazilian is 11/8 at BoyleSports for anytime scorer while the odds are bigger for an assist at 5/2 with Bet365.
Liam Delap delivered for me when I tipped him to score against Spurs and the former Manchester City kid always looks Ipswich's best bet for a goal. He's 5/2 at BoyleSports for anytime scorer and 15/8 at Bet365 to either score or assist.
Probable line-ups
Wolves are missing midfielder Joao Gomes after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season. O'Neill doesn't have any fresh injury issues but Enso Gonzalez, Boubacar Traore, Sasa Kalajdzic and Yerson Mosquera remain out. Ipswich look set to be without Cheidozie Ogbene, George Hirst and Axel Tuanzebe but Ben Johnson made a welcome return from injury last time out.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Bueno, Semedo, T Gomes, Doherty, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Doyle, Andre, Strand Larsen, Cunha.
Ipswich Town: Muric, Davis, Burgess, Johnson, O'Shea, Morsy, Chaplin, Taylor, Szmodics, Delap, Hutchinson.
Anything else catch the eye?
Things got heated when Wolves lost to West Ham and the referee ended up dishing out nine yellow cards. This match will be just as emotionally charged so it could be another busy night for the officials. Over 52.5 booking points looks good at evens with Betfred while a sending off pays 7/2 with Kwiff.
With these sides battling out a five-goal thriller last season in the cup, it also bodes well for action at both ends. BTTS pays just 6/10 with BoyleSports but combining that with over 2.5 goals boosts the odds to evens at Bet365.
This should be a tight game with very little between the sides and the half-time draw is always a good option when two struggling teams face off. It pays 6/5 with BoyleSports here.
This English Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town will be played on Dec 14, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Ipswich Town prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
