Preview: Ipswich Town vs Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Ipswich Town will be looking to claim back-to-back home wins when they welcome Portsmouth to Portman Road for Saturday's Championship encounter.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth will be hoping to produce another strong away showing, having avoided defeat in their opening three road trips this season.

Match preview

After spending just one season in the Premier League, Ipswich have made an underwhelming start to the Championship campaign, mustering just six points from their opening five league encounters.

In fact, they failed to win any of their first four league matches before they finally claimed three points with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Sheffield United in their most recent home outing.

Ipswich looked set to follow that impressive result with a narrow defeat to Blackburn Rovers after being reduced to 10 men and conceding from a Todd Cantwell penalty at Ewood Park.

However, the match was abandoned in the 79th minute due to a waterlogged pitch, with the EFL ruling that the game will have to be replayed in full at a later date.

As a result, Ipswich will still have the chance to record consecutive league wins for the first time since May 2024 when they take on Portsmouth at Portman Road.

The Tractor Boys have avoided defeat in their last four league meetings with Portsmouth since they suffered a 2-1 away loss in March 2021 (W2, D2).

While Ipswich are in 17th position, Portsmouth are two points better off in 12th place after splitting their opening six matches equally between wins, draws and defeats.

Portsmouth played out a goalless draw against rivals Southampton in their most recent away outing, before they produced a disappointing performance in last Saturday's 2-0 defeat against struggling Sheffield Wednesday.

Barry Bannan and George Brown grabbed a goal apiece to fire the Owls to their first league win of the season, and condemn Portsmouth to their second loss in their opening three Championship home matches.

John Mousinho may be concerned by his team's struggles in the final third, having seen his side fail to score more than one goal in any of their six Championship games.

Mousinho's charges have at least proven to be tough to beat on the road, having won one and drawn two of their three league road trips, making them one of six Championship teams yet to lose on their travels this term.

Portsmouth may fancy their chances of extending that record on Saturday, having lost just one of their previous six competitive trips to Portman Road (W3, D2).

Ipswich Town Championship form:

D D L D W

Ipswich Town form (all competitions):

D L D L D W

Portsmouth Championship form:

W L D W D L

Portsmouth form (all competitions):

L L D W D L

Team News

Ipswich are unable to call upon the injured duo of Conor Townsend and Wes Burns, with the latter now in the final stages of his rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Greaves will still have to serve his suspension for last Saturday's red card, despite the fact that the abandoned game will be replayed in full.

With Greaves unavailable, Cedric Kipre should come into the side to operate as Dara O'Shea's central defensive partner.

As for Portsmouth, Nicolas Schmid, Harvey Blair, Callum Lang and Thomas Waddingham remain sidelined through injury, while Ipswich loanee Conor Chaplin is ineligible to face his parent club.

Conor Shaughnessy is set for a spell on the sidelines after he suffered a hamstring injury in the lead-up to Sheffield Wednesday's second goal last Saturday.

Mousinho has described Josh Murphy's availability as "50/50", with the winger looking to shake off an ankle problem that kept him out of the defeat to the Owls.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Palmer; Furlong, O'Shea, Kipre, Davis; Matusiwa, Cajuste; McAteer, Akpom, Philogene; Hirst

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Killip; Swanson, Knight, Poole, Ogilvie; Le Roux, Dozzell; Segecic, Swift, Bianchini; Bishop

We say: Ipswich Town 1-1 Portsmouth

Portsmouth have avoided defeat in each of their three away matches this term, and having been relatively strong defensively, we think that they will do enough to hold the Tractor Boys to a point on Saturday.

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