Ipswich Town vs. Everton: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Both teams to score has occurred in four of each team's last five games in the league, so we expect both sides to find the back of the net in this one.

Everton are unbeaten in their last three games while Ipswich are coming off the back of a pretty damning defeat, so it's fair to say that the momentum is with the visitors coming into this one.

Ipswich, though, have performed well on their own patch this season while Everton are winless in their last 14 league games away from home. Ipswich 1-1 Everton.

This Saturday's Premier League clash between Ipswich Town and Everton feels like a potential (very) early season relegation six pointer.

• Date: 19/10/2024
• Kick-off time: 15:00
• Location: Portman Road, Ipswich

Ipswich Town’s return to the Premier League has been a rollercoaster of an experience so far, with the newly promoted from the Championship having managed to pick up just four points from their first seven games, leaving them hovering just above the relegation zone.

Kieran McKenna’s side are yet to register a win this season, but it’s important to note the tough fixture list they’ve faced, with games against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa making it tough to build momentum. Even then, though, there have been moments of competitiveness that they can build upon. Draws against Fulham, Brighton and Aston Villa showed they can hold their own in this league, but a last-gasp draw away at Southampton and a hammering away at West Ham were fairly disappointing showings.

The club made significant investments in the summer, bringing in a host of new players to prepare for the step up to Premier League football, and with around seven or eight of those signings regularly starting, Ipswich essentially have a new-look squad, which in many ways makes a slow start inevitable. A lack of cohesion is to be expected, and McKenna needs to work quickly to integrate these players into a coherent system.

One bright spark has been the form of 21-year-old striker Liam Delap, who arrived in the summer and has already made a noticeable impact. With four goals in seven appearances, Delap has proven himself to be a handful for defenders and a consistent goal threat and his immense physical tools.

McKenna himself remains one of the more highly regarded young managers in the country, known for his tactical flexibility and ability to develop players, and despite the slow start, there’s confidence that he can mould this squad into a competitive Premier League team. However, time is always of the essence in this division and with Ipswich’s current position, the pressure is starting to mount, and McKenna will be desperate to see his side take three points against a fellow struggler in Everton.

Everton’s start to the Premier League season has been disappointing, with just five points from seven games leaving them perilously close to the relegation zone. While their performance level has been poor for the most part, there are some reasons for cautious optimism in recent weeks. Sean Dyche, under significant pressure for much of the campaign, appears to be finding a way to get more out of his limited squad, and Everton have shown signs of improvement, even if results haven’t fully reflected that yet.

Financial difficulties have severely restricted Everton’s ability to invest in the squad, with the club’s ownership situation unresolved until only a couple of weeks ago. This has left Dyche working with a group of players that, by Premier League standards, is short on quality. Despite this, the former Burnley manager has begun to instil some stability and resilience into the side, who look like they could be bouncing back from such a poor start to the campaign.

One player who has thrived under Dyche’s guidance is Dwight McNeil, who has been Everton’s standout performer so far this season, contributing three goals and two assists, and is arguably playing the best football of his career. McNeil has become a key attacking outlet for the Toffees and his ability to score different types of goals and act as a fairly consistent creator is proving indispensable.

Everton’s last two results have been decent ones and only time will tell if this is the start of a more sustained run of form. A win against Ipswich, one of the few teams below them in the table, is almost a non-negotiable for Sean Dyche, who is still under so much pressure from the Everton fanbase.

This game will not be not be televised live in the UK, but full radio coverage will be provided by BBC Radio Merseyside.

Ipswich Team News:

The Tractor Boys are doing very well in the fitness department, with Jens Cajuste and Axel Tuanzebe the only absentees coming into this game.

Kieran McKenna will likely make changes after a heavy defeat to West Ham last time out, with Sammie Szmodics vying to reclaim his place in the starting lineup.

Predicted lineup: Muric; Johnson, O'Shea, Geaves, Davis; Morsy, Phillips; Burns, Hutchinson, Szmodics; Delap.

Everton Team News:

The Toffees will once again be without Armando Broja, Séamus Coleman and Youssef Chermiti.

Jarrad Branthwaite, however, should be fit enough to be part of the matchday squad, but whether or not he will start remains to be seen.

Predicted lineup: Pickford; Garner, Tarkowski, Keane, Young; Doucouré, Mangala; Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin.

Ipswich's form is not brilliant, with McKenna's men having drawn four and lost one of their last five games. Their latest outing was a heavy 4-1 defeat to West Ham, where despite taking an early lead through Liam Delap, the Hammers hit back with aplomb and simply had too much quality for Ipswich.

Their four prior games did, though, contain plenty of positives, with results including a 2-2 draw against Champions League side Aston Villa, a 1-1 draw against Southampton, a 0-0 draw against Brighton and a 1-1 draw against Fulham.

Everton's league form has seen them win one, draw two and lose two of their last five games. Most recently, Sean Dyche's side drew 0-0 with Newcastle United, a solid result that saw Jordon Pickford save an Anthony Gordon penalty.

That result followed Everton's first win of the season, where a Dwight McNeil brace saw them topple Crystal Palace 2-1.

Prior to that, Everton drew 1-1 with Leicester City, lost 3-2 to Aston Villa and lost 2-3 to Bournemouth.

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