Two sides in need of a win meet in the EFL Championship on New Year’s Day as Stoke City welcome Ipswich Town to the Bet365 Stadium.
Stoke City currently sit 19th in the Premier League with seven wins, seven draws and eleven losses from twenty-three games this season.
Stoke are one of the league’s biggest underperformers this year and they’re attempting to turn around their poor showing under new manager Stephen Schumacher.
Since former manager Alex Neil was sacked and replaced by Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher the Potters have won one and drawn two of the three games Schumacher has taken charge of.
Not a bad showing, but they’ll want to build on that and continue to progress if they are to reach their ceiling as a side.
Their most recent game saw them held to a 1-1 draw away at Watford, with Ryan Mmaee cancelling out Jake Livermore’s opener.
The point was a fairly decent result for Stoke but it was made slightly more disappointing by the fact the home side were reduced to ten men after 52 minutes, but Stoke were unable to capitalise on their man advantage.
One thing Schumacher will want to swiftly address is his side’s home form, as they come into this game winless in their last five games on home soil.
They’re facing a hard game here against the side 2nd in the league table, but given their form the Potters should view this as a huge opportunity.
Ipswich Town currently sit 2nd in the EFL Championship with sixteen wins, six draws and three losses from twenty-five games this season.
The Tractor Boys have had an outstanding season on the whole but are starting to falter in the face of pressure from below them.
Ipswich are coming into this game winless in their last four games, the most recent of which was a 0-0 draw at home to Queens Park Rangers, a side currently occupying a place in the relegation zone.
A 2-2 draw at home to Norwich City preceded a 4-0 hammering away at Leeds United before a 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City followed by Friday night’s result.
Not the worst run of form, but it’s a clear regression from where they’ve been for the majority of the season and they come into this one needing to get back to winning ways.
A loss here could be awful for their confidence and the fact they’ve lost two of their last four games on the road means this is one they could come unstuck in.
For our Stoke vs. Ipswich prediction, we’re going for a 1-0 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
