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

Southampton play host to Ipswich Town on Tuesday night looking to move to within one point of their second-placed opponents in the Championship table.

However, the Tractor Boys make the trip to St Mary's knowing that victory would effectively secure promotion back to the Premier League.

Match preview

When Finn Azaz curled a wonder goal into the far corner to put Southampton ahead against Manchester City on Saturday evening, the Saints were dreaming of a shock appearance in the FA Cup final.

However, Man City rallied late on to secure a 2-1 victory in the semi-finals, leaving Tonda Eckart and his players to focus on trying to achieve promotion to the Premier League.

Although Southampton managed to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship to 17 matches last week, a 2-2 draw against Bristol City has left achieving second place out of their hands.

Southampton must win their last two games and hope that Ipswich fail to overcome Queens Park Rangers in order to avoid going into the playoffs.

A total of 43 points have been accumulated from their 22 games at St Mary's, Southampton also conceding the least goals (17) in home encounters.

As for Ipswich, they have won just four of their last 10 Championship encounters to leave the promotion race going until the last week.

Nevertheless, Saturday's goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion has left the Tractor Boys in a position where they only need one win to finish runners-up, a consequence of their goal difference being significantly better than Millwall who are in third position.

Despite the disappointment of only earning a point at The Hawthorns, Kieran McKenna's team have recorded 11 points from their most recent six away matches in the second tier.

Ipswich also posted just their third clean sheet in eight games. However, they have all been on their travels, the other two coming at Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City.

Meanwhile, Ipswich have gone eight games without scoring more than twice in a single fixture.

Southampton Championship form:

W W W W W D

Southampton form (all competitions):

W W W W D L

Ipswich Town Championship form:

W W L D W D

Team News

With Eckart likely to revert to a back four and the three-day turnaround, changes will inevitably be made to his Southampton XI.

Shea Charles, Kuryu Matsuki and Cyle Larin are all in line to be recalled, but Flynn Downes is suspended.

Jack Stephens will be assessed as he continues to deal with a calf issue.

Meanwhile, McKenna is likely to make alterations to his Ipswich starting lineup, including bringing in the likes of Marcelino Nunez and Jaden Philogene.

George Hirst could get the nod over Ivan Azon, while Dan Neil is an alternative in central midfield if fresh legs are required.

Leif Davis remains a major doubt courtesy of a hamstring injury.

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Peretz; Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning; Downes, Charles; Matsuki, Azaz, Scienza; Larin

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Walton; Furlong, O'Shea, Kipre, Greaves; Matusiwa, Taylor; Philogene, Nunez, Clarke; Hirst

We say: Southampton 2-1 Ipswich Town

With the stakes so high heading into this evenly-matched contest, it is difficult to predict a scoreline. Much may depend on how Southampton shake off the disappointment of losing to Man City, but they still get the nod with us, perhaps netting the decisive goal during the closing stages.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.