Ipswich Town and Leicester City will be desperate for three points when they lock horns at Portman Road on Saturday.
Premier League football resumes this weekend with Gameweek 10 of the 2024/25 season. The latest round of fixtures kicks off with the game between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St. James’ Park. The action on Saturday will continue with five simultaneous matches, including Ipswich Town vs Leicester City at Portman Road.
Ipswich Town might have looked solid in many outings thus far this term, but the Tractor Boys are reaching a stage where they must start racking up the wins unless they want to risk returning to the EFL Championship straightaway. Kieran McKenna’s men are one of three teams yet to win a game in the Premier League this season, and they are two points behind 18th-placed Crystal Palace.
As for Leicester City, they have created a gap between themselves and the relegation zone in the last few weeks. The Foxes have lost only one of their four most recent Premier League games, with the run of results taking them to 15th in the standings. Saturday’s game might be a relegation six-pointer for Steve Cooper and his charges.
Ipswich Town and Leicester City played out 1-1 draws in their two clashes in the EFL Championship last season. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Ipswich Town
Kieran McKenna has a new injury concern hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Ipswich Town manager might be bereft of the services of ten first-team players vs Leicester City on Saturday.
Chiedozie Ogbene is the latest absentee after picking up an achilles injury last weekend against Brentford. The 27-year-old has joined Janoi Donacien (ankle), Axel Tuanzebe (hand), Jacob Greaves (hamstring), Jack Taylor (knock), Massimo Luongo (ankle), and Harry Clarke (suspension) on the sidelines. In addition, McKenna is sweating over the fitness of Ben Johnson (thigh), Samy Morsy (hamstring), and Omari Hutchinson (illness).
Arijanet Muric will take his spot between the sticks, with Ipswich Town lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Leicester City on Saturday. The backline should feature Dara O’Shea, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess, and Leif Davis.
As for the midfield unit, Jens Cajuste and Kalvin Phillips should pair up in the double pivot, with Morsy missing out. Conor Chaplin will reprise the no. 10 role, with Wes Burns and Sammie Szmodics being the two wide attackers. Finally, Liam Delap will spearhead the Ipswich Town attack against Leicester City this weekend.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Muric; O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Phillips, Cajuste; Burns, Chaplin, Szmodics; Delap
Leicester City
Unlike his counterpart in the Ipswich Town dugout, Steve Cooper has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to Portman Road. The Leicester City manager might be without only three first-team players on Saturday.
Victor Kristiansen (groin) and Hamza Choudhury (shoulder) are closing in on returning to action and should be available to take on Ipswich Town. However, Jakub Stolarczyk (ankle), Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (groin), and Patson Daka (ankle) remain on the sidelines.
Mads Hermansen is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Leicester City lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Ipswich Town on Saturday. The backline should feature James Justin, Caleb Okoli, Wout Faes, and Victor Kristiansen.
As for the midfield unit, Wilfred Ndidi and Harry Winks will pair up in the double pivot in the middle of the park. Facundo Buonanotte will reprise the no. 10 role, with Stephy Mavididi and Bobby De-Cordova Reid being the two wide attackers. Finally, Jamie Vardy will lead the line for Leicester City against Ipswich Town.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Okoli, Faes, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks; De-Cordova Reis, Buonanotte, Mavididi; Vardy
Key Stats
- Ipswich Town have won all three Premier League home games vs Leicester City – 4-1 in January 1995, 2-0 in January 2001, and 2-0 in December 2001. The Foxes have lost just one of their last nine league games against Ipswich (W5 D3), with both meetings between the sides in the EFL Championship in the 2023/24 season finishing level.
- Ipswich Town are winless in their nine Premier League games thus far this season. In their league history, they only had a longer winless run from the start of a campaign in 2009/10 (first 14) and 2018/19 (first 11).
- Leicester City have faced more shots than any other side in the Premier League this season (168), while Ipswich Town have the highest xG against in the competition this term (21.5).
- Ipswich Town have dropped ten points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, with only Brentford (11) dropping more. The Tractor Boys let a two-goal lead slip to lose 4-3 in their last match.
- Jamie Vardy has scored four goals in nine Premier League games this season, one more than he managed in 37 appearances in his previous top-flight campaign of 2022/23. He has found the back of the net in his two most recent games. Aged 37 years and 296 days on the day of this game, he would be the oldest player to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances with a goal here.
Player to Watch
Liam Delap
The in-form Leicester City duo of Jamie Vardy and Facundo Buonanotte were candidates for the section. However, Liam Delap is our Player to Watch, with the English striker being Ipswich Town’s go-to man to get anything from the game this weekend.
Delap has scored 56% of Ipswich Town’s Premier League goals this season (5/9). Only Chris Wood has netted a higher share of his team’s goals thus far this term (64% for Nottingham Forest). Kieran McKenna will hope the 21-year-old rises to the occasion and delivers the first Premier League win of the 2024/25 campaign for the Tractor Boys.
Prediction
Ipswich Town 1-2 Leicester City
The two meetings in the EFL Championship last season ended all square, and there might not be much to separate the two sides this weekend. However, Ipswich Town have struggled to hold on to leads thus far in the 2024/25 Premier League season.
A similar pattern might ensue on Saturday, with Ipswich Town going ahead before conceding twice in the second half. Jamie Vardy will rise to the occasion again for Leicester City, scoring two times to deliver the three points for the away side. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Steve Cooper and his charges.