With an opportunity to leapfrog Leicester City at the top of the Championship standings, Ipswich Town will welcome a resurgent Coventry City side to Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.

The Tractors Boys bounced back from an away defeat last weekend by breezing past Millwall in the week, while the Sky Blues recorded a narrow success over Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday.

Match preview

Ipswich Town responded in perfect fashion on Wednesday night following only their second loss of the term at West Bromwich Albion in the previous match, with the promotion-chasing East Anglians beating Millwall 3-1 at Portman Road thanks to first-half strikes by Conor Chaplin, Massimo Luongo and Wales international Nathan Broadhead.

Joe Edwards's Lions did not have an answer for the energetic Tractor Boys in the first period, and although the hosts were denied a clean sheet by Kevin Nisbet's consolation in the second half, the home faithful would have left the stadium in joyous mood as their side closed the gap on the league leaders.

Ipswich are currently sitting in second position in the Championship table, with Wednesday's maximum - coupled with Enzo Maresca's Foxes being held to a shock draw as bottom side Sheffield Wednesday - meaning that the League One runners-ups are now only a point behind top spot in the division.

The Tractor Boys know they must continue their sensational early-season form in order to keep the likes of Leeds United and Southampton at bay, with the recently-relegated pair currently enjoying five-game and 10-game unbeaten spells respectively under Daniel Farke and Russell Martin.

Grabbing another assist against Millwall, left-back Leif Davis is now at eight for the season in the Championship, with only Norwich City's Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Sara being able to match the 23-year-old in that particular metric in the opening 18 games of the campaign.

After a stuttering start to the season which threatened to put them in trouble at the foot of the second tier, Coventry City have now navigated three games without defeat following a hard-fought 1-0 win over Steven Schumacher's Plymouth at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Tuesday.

With a rather industrial midfield trio of Jamie Allen, Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles, the Sky Blues struggled to find their creative spark against the Pilgrims, although Haji Wright's fifth of the season secured back-to-back wins - even if the ball appeared to go out of play in the build-up.

Mark Robins's men were carried to the playoff final by the attacking talents of Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres last season, although there is a greater focus on defence in the 2023-24 term, with centre-back pairing Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching help to keep three-straight clean sheets recently.

Harbouring ambitions of pushing for the playoffs, Coventry need to address their away form as the season approaches its busy festive period, with the East Midlands club only managing two wins from nine league outings, although the most recent was a 3-0 hammering of Millwall a week ago.

Despite a decent run of form in November, matches against Ipswich, Southampton and Leeds in the next four will give fans of the Championship a better indication of whether the Sky Blues will be able to reach the heights of last season's fifth-placed finish and Wembley appearance.

Team News

Ipswich will be hoping to welcome back Brandon Williams to the matchday squad on Saturday afternoon, with the right-back missing the win over Millwall due to a slight knock.

Full-back Janoi Donacien and midfielder Lee Evans remain as the long-term absentees for the Tractor Boys because of leg and ligament injuries respectively.

Omari Hutchinson returned to the bench in midweek could earn a starting berth this weekend, although Jack Taylor is likely to have to settle for a place among the substitutes once again after Luongo found the net on Wednesday.

After showcasing a clear lack of attacking quality despite victory against Plymouth, Coventry could be tempted to hand Callum O'Hare his first start since returning from a long-term injury.

The likes of Ellis Simms and Yasin Ayari will be pushing for places in the XI after cameos last time out, but Robins is likely to name an unchanged team for the third game in succession.

Fabio Tavares and Kasey Palmer remain in the medical room for the visitors, with the former last featuring in the 4-3 loss to Wrexham in January.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Hladky; Clarke, Tuanzebe, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead; Hirst

Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Collins; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell; Sheaf, Eccles, Allen; Sakamoto, Wright, Godden

We say: Ipswich Town 2-0 Coventry City

Ipswich could have scored four or five in the clash with Millwall last time out, showing that the Tractor Boys are back on track after their setback at The Hawthorns.

Coventry were unconvincing in the home victory against a Plymouth side who struggle massively on their travels, meaning we are expecting the Sky Blues to find it very difficult at Portman Road this weekend.


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