Ipswich Town return to Suffolk to take on in-form Aston Villa at Portman Road today (2pm). Alex Jones previews the action.
Home comforts
After back-to-back away games, Ipswich are home. This will be their first match at Portman Road since August 31st, when they drew 1-1 against Fulham, and their only one in September.
It goes without saying that IP1 will be Town’s main source of points this campaign. Last season, they had the best home record in the Championship, winning 16 of their 23 games. Even a quarter of that figure might be enough to help them finish above the dotted line in 2024/25.
This obviously won’t an easy match, and we’ll come onto the reasons why that’s the case, but that also helps the general hype and emotion surrounding it. It feels like a big occasion, but every game does, in truth.
For example, after facing Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening two games, Ipswich would have been forgiven if they couldn’t match the tempo against Fulham, but they played with an incredible intensity that could have given them all three points on another day.
Supporters are fully behind the players, and it really shows at a packed-out Portman Road. With this game shown live on Sky Sports, there will be plenty of eyes on Town and their performance – the crowd could play a big part in that.
The first win
Ipswich’s wait for a first victory continues, and the narrative that’s being peddled by some rival fans pundits is that it’s not good enough. Most Ipswich supporters see it differently, which is why the atmosphere at the club is so positive. Internally, just like last season, the players and the staff will block out the external noise.
But there does come a moment where that first win has to come, and it’ll need to be sooner rather than later. We said the same ahead of the games against Brighton and Southampton, both of which finished in draws.
Those were two good results, and they extended Town’s unbeaten streak to three matches, meaning that only Liverpool and Man City have beaten them. However, draws won’t guarantee survival. This next block of games will be crucial in terms of picking up three points.
They have a chance to do that today, albeit that it’s seemingly quite slim. Kieran McKenna and his squad know that it’s an important box to tick in the coming weeks, but failure to beat Villa will certainly not be seen as a disaster.
A tough opponent
Every game in the Premier League is tough, but apart from the ‘big six’, this is arguably the toughest.
Aston Villa’s return to the top flight in 2019 was always going to be the start of the journey under the ownership of V Sports. They quickly established themselves back at the level and then kicked on. It took them a little while to find the right manager, but they’ve done just that in Unai Emery, who guided them into Europe in his first season in charge.
Now they’re a Champions League side, competing in the competition for the first time since the 1980s. After facing Ipswich, they’ll return to Villa Park to host Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. The good times are well and truly back at the club after so long away. They sit third in the table after five games, having won four. Arsenal are the only side to beat them so far this season.
They’ve got a core group of talented players who’ve made their names in the EFL, like Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa, combining them with big name signings like Amadou Onana, Pau Torres and Leon Bailey.
They’ve also got ex-Town target Jaden Philogene in their ranks. The talented winger was a target for a number of clubs over the summer, with FC Barcelona and a number of Premier League sides linked. In the end, after Ipswich had agreed a deal with Hull City, Aston Villa came in and triggered his buy-back clause, bringing him back to his former club. His minutes have been limited, however, and he’s expected to miss this game through injury.
Defender Tyrone Mings, who made 63 appearances for Ipswich across three seasons, is set to miss the game. He suffered an ACL injury last year, although Emery has revealed that he’s close to making his return for Villa.
A familiar face
Many of the sides that Ipswich will face this season are totally new to them, particularly those at the top of the division. When it comes to Aston Villa, however, this isn’t their first rodeo.
The Villans faced Town in each of their three seasons in the second tier. In 2016/17, they played out a 0-0 draw at Portman Road before Emyr Huws’ late strike handed the Blues all three points at Villa Park. Both sides ended up in mid-table.
It was a different story 12 months on, where Villa won 2-0 on home soil before thrashing 10-man Ipswich 4-0 away from home. Steve Bruce’s side qualified for the play-offs that year, but they ultimately fell short.
In the third campaign, Ipswich – once again down to 10-men – earned a 1-1 draw at Portman Road, with Trevoh Chalobah’s goal cancelling out Jonathan Kodjia’s opener. Funnily enough, Axel Tuanzebe started at right-back for the visitors in that game.
Five months on, the Villans took three points in the reverse fixture thanks to Tammy Abraham’s brace. Freddie Sears’ screamer wasn’t enough to spark a comeback.
That was the season that Aston Villa won the play-offs while Town were relegated to League One. Now they’ll meet again in the Premier League.
Who could start?
McKenna seemingly isn’t one for making wholesale changes in the Premier League. In truth, there isn’t much need to do that. The performances have largely been good and things are slowly starting to click into place. With that in mind, it’s unlikely that we’ll see more than a couple of alterations.
The back line should stay the same. The only question mark is over Dara O’Shea, who’s been ahead of Luke Woolfenden in the pecking order for the last two games. While some supporters believe that the Ipswich academy graduate should be brought back into the starting lineup, O’Shea’s pace is much more suited to the challenge of facing Watkins.
Ahead of them, Sam Morsy will start and captain the side. The only issue is who he partners. Kalvin Phillips missed last week’s draw at St. Mary’s with a ‘minor thigh injury’ but could be back for this one. In that case, he’ll likely be preferred to Napoli loanee Jens Cajuste, who made his first Premier League start against the Saints last week.
The forward area is the interesting one. Liam Delap should lead the line, but it remains to be seen who the three players behind him will be. McKenna has started Sammie Szmodics, Omari Hutchinson and Wes Burns in the last two games but could change things up here. Chiedozie Ogbene is waiting in the wings while Jack Clarke will be eager to make his full debut at the level.
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