Ipswich Town host Brighton this weekend in a top of the table clash in the Championship, so here’s everything you need to know about the crunch game.
When and where?
Saturday, 3pm at Portman Road
What are the likely line-ups?
Ipswich: Gerken, Emmanuel, Chambers, Smith, Knudsen, Maitland-Niles, Skuse, Douglas, Fraser, McGoldrick, Sears.
Brighton: Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bong, Murphy, Stevens, Kayal, LuaLua, Baldock, Hemed.
Which players are missing?
Teddy Bishop, Kevin Bru (hamstring), Luke Hyam (knee) and Daryl Murphy (calf) all remain on the sidelines for Ipswich, while Christophe Berra is the latest to join Mick McCarthy’s injured list. Inigo Calderon is a major doubt for the Seagulls.
Who is their manager?
Chris Hughton is a familiar name in these parts, given his time in charge up the road in Norwich. He’s now been in charge of the Canaries, Newcastle and Birmingham, prior to his move to Brighton, where he stabilised the club after Sami Hyypia’s departure last winter.
How have they been getting on so far this season?
They must have done pretty well, considering they’ve set up this top of the table clash. Brighton beat Nottingham Forest on opening night before wins at Fulham and at home to Blackburn, as well as a draw at Huddersfield.
Who has the best record in this fixture?
Of the 66 times the two sides have met, the Blues have the best record with 30 wins compared to just 23 for Brighton and 13 draws.
What happened last time they met?
Town went to Brighton in January on something of a high, following a 3-1 win at Millwall, but a master class from Liverpool loanee Joao Teixeira, which included two goals, saw the hosts win 3-2. Daryl Murphy had equalised with a good finish but it wasn’t enough, and Freddie Sears’ late goal was all in vain.
Who is the ref?
Keith Hill’s taking charge of this one, having not overseen an Ipswich Town game since November 2010, when he showed Damien Delaney a red card in the 4-1 defeat at rivals Norwich. He’s refereed four games this season, showing eight yellow cards as well as sending off Lewis Cook of Leeds.
What’s the key battle on the pitch?
This looks like it’s going to be one for the wingers, with Ryan Fraser and Ainsley Maitland-Niles going up against Kazenga LuaLua and Jamie Murphy. Whichever pair come out on top could hold the key to their side getting a result.
What are the bookies saying?
Bet365 have made Ipswich favourites at 6/5, with Brighton 13/5 and the draw at 12/5. David McGoldrick is the favourite to open the scoring at 11/2, closely followed by Brett Pitman at 13/2. If you fancy Jonas Knudsen to open his Ipswich account, it’s 33/1.
Anything else worth knowing?
Bobby Zamora has yet to make his debut since his emotional return to Brighton in the summer but, having now regained fitness, he’s in contention to make his first appearance at Portman Road.
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