Ipswich Town are looking to get back to winning ways in the EFL Championship this weekend as they welcome Sunderland to Portman Road.
Ipswich currently sit 2nd in the EFL Championship with sixteen wins, seven draws and three losses from twenty-six games this season.
The Tractor Boys are fighting to keep hold of their place in the automatic promotion spots amidst their surprisingly outstanding campaign, with signs emerging in recent weeks that reality is starting to his the East Anglian side.
They're coming into this game winless in their last five league games, the most recent of which was a 0-0 draw away at Stoke City.
The draw at Stoke was Ipswich's third on the bounce and, in fairness, they've only lost one of their five-match winless run in the league, a 4-0 hammering at Leeds, so it might not yet be a crisis but there's been a clear drop off in performance levels.
They did at least get back in the win column in the FA Cup at the weekend when they beat AFC Wimbledon 3-1 away from home thanks to goals from Axel Tuanzebe, Jack Taylor and an own goal from Josh Davison.
That will no doubt help squad morale, but Southampton in 3rd are rapidly gaining on them in the Championship and are now just three points behind them in the league standings, so there's a serious amount of pressure on Kieran McKenna's side to start picking up wins again.
This is a game that Ipswich, if they still harbour hopes of automatic promotion, have to win.
Sunderland currently sit 6th in the EFL Championship with twelve wins, four draws and ten losses from twenty-six games.
The Black Cats are having a solid campaign in the Championship, at least in terms of league position, but come into this game still plagued by uncertainty surrounding their prospects under their new manager, Michael Beale.
After Tony Mowbray was sacked and replaced by Beale, many fans were mystified by the appointment and felt underwhelmed because of Beale's recent failings at Queens Park Rangers and Glasgow Rangers and that feeling is still very much there after his first five games in charge.
His first game kicked off with a 0-3 hammering at home to Coventry City before taking seven points from their next three games, which was then followed by a 0-3 battering by bitter rivals Newcastle United last weekend.
The Newcastle defeat was particularly bitter for the Black Cats given the sorry performance Beale's side delivered as they went down without a whimper, barely even giving the game a good go.
The optics of that game weren't good and Sunderland very much have some making-up to do to their fans here. It's a tough game on paper, but they'll be looking to take advantage of a faltering Ipswich side.
For our Ipswich vs. Sunderland prediction, we're going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
