Town won’t let external noise distract them from big Portman Road clash against Villa.

 

Home comforts

Ipswich returns home after two away games in a row. This will be their only game in September and their first at Portman Road since

their 1-1 draw with Fulham on August 31st.

Needless to say, Town’s primary source of points during this campaign will come from IP1. They won 16 of their 23 games in the

previous season, giving them the best home record in the Championship. In 2024–2025, even a fraction of that amount could be

sufficient to get them across the finish line.

This will obviously not be an easy match, and we’ll talk about that later, but that only heightens the thrill and anticipation surrounding

it. It feels like a big deal, but that’s true of all games.

For instance, Ipswich might have been forgiven if they hadn’t been able to keep up with Fulham’s pace after losing to Manchester City

and Liverpool in their first two games, but they played with such amazing energy that, on a different day, they might have won all

three points.

There is a strong sense of support for the players at a crowded Portman Road. There will be a lot of eyeballs on Town and their

performance because this game is being televised live on Sky Sports; the crowd may have a significant impact on that.

The Blues are looking for their first victory of the season

The first win

Ipswich’s quest for its first triumph carries on, and some rival supporters and experts are promoting the idea that it falls short. The

pleasant mood at Ipswich is attributed to the fact that most of the supporters hold differing views. Like they did last season, the

players and staff will shut out the outside noise internally.

However, there comes a point when the initial victory must occur, and it must happen as fast as possible. We made the same statement

prior to the draws in the games against Southampton and Brighton.

With those two successful outcomes, Town’s unbeaten run now stands at three games; only Man City and Liverpool have defeated

them.

They have a chance to do that today, albeit that it’s seemingly quite slim. Kieran McKenna and his squad know that it’s an important

box to tick in the coming weeks, but failure to beat Villa will certainly not be seen as a disaster.

Aston Villa are looking to challenge at the top end of the Premier League table once again

A tough opponent

All Premier League games are hard, but this one is possibly the hardest outside of the “big six.”

The beginning of Aston Villa’s adventure under V Sports ownership was always going to be their return to the top division in 2019.

They got back on track as soon as they established themselves at the level again. They took some time to identify the ideal manager,

but they have now done so with Unai Emery, who led them into Europe during his first season in command.

They are now playing in the Champions League, their first tournament participation since the 1980s. They will welcome Bundesliga

powerhouse Bayern Munich back to Villa Park following their match against Ipswich. The good old days are definitely returning.

Together with high-profile additions like Amadou Onana, Pau Torres, and Leon Bailey, they have a core group of gifted players who

have established themselves in the EFL, including Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, and Ezri Konsa.

Jaden Philogene, a former Town target, is also one of their numbers. Over the summer, a number of clubs expressed interest in

signing the gifted winger, including FC Barcelona and many Premier League teams. Ultimately, following Ipswich’s agreement to a

contract with Hull City, Aston Villa intervened and activated his buy-back clause, returning him to his previous team. He hasn’t played

much lately, though, and an injury is predicted to keep him out of this game.

Defender Tyrone Mings, who made 63 appearances for Ipswich across three seasons, is set to miss the game. He suffered an ACL

injury last year, although Emery has revealed that he’s close to making his return for Villa.

The two sides met six times in the Championship between 2016 and 2019

A familiar face

Especially the teams at the top of the division, a large number of the teams that Ipswich will play this season are completely unfamiliar

to them. But, this is not Aston Villa’s first experience in this arena.

In all three of the Villans’ second-tier seasons, they faced Town. They drew 0-0 at Portman Road in the 2016–17 season before Emyr

Huws’ late goal at Villa Park gave the Blues all three points. Mid-table was where both teams finished.

A year later, after winning 2-0 at home, Villa thrashed 10-man Ipswich 4-0 away from home. Things were drastically different.

Although Steve Bruce’s squad advanced to the postseason that year, they ultimately lost.

In the third campaign, Trevoh Chalobah’s goal at Portman Road cancelled out Jonathan Kodjia’s opening goal as Ipswich, reduced to

ten men once more, secured a 1-1 draw. Oddly enough, Axel Tuanzebe began that match for the visiting team at right back.

Five months later, Tammy Abraham’s brace helped the Villans win the rematch with three points. Not even Freddie Sears’ scream

could mount a comeback.

During that season, Town was relegated to League One and Aston Villa won the play-offs.

Kalvin Phillips missed the 1-1 draw at Southampton through injury

Who could start?

McKenna seemingly isn’t one for making wholesale changes in the Premier League. In truth, there isn’t much need to do that. The

performances have largely been good and things are slowly starting to click into place. With that in mind, it’s unlikely that we’ll see

more than a couple of alterations.

The back line should stay the same. The only question mark is over Dara O’Shea, who’s been ahead of Luke Woolfenden in the pecking

order for the last two games.

While some supporters believe that the Ipswich academy graduate should be brought back into the starting lineup, O’Shea’s pace is

much more suited to the challenge of facing Watkins.

Sam Morsy will lead the team and get underway first. Who he partners with is the sole problem. Due to a “minor thigh injury,” Kalvin

Phillips was unable to play in the draw against St. Mary’s last week, but he might return for this one. Then, he’ll probably be picked

ahead of Jens Cajuste, a Napoli loanee who made his Premier League debut last week against the Saints.

The interesting part is in front of you. Though it’s unclear who will be the three players behind Liam Delap, he should be at the front of

the queue. In the previous two games, McKenna has started Wes Burns, Omari Hutchinson, and Sammie Szmodics; but, he may

switch things up in this one. Chiedozie Ogbene is in the background, but Jack Clarke is excited.

Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/