Chelsea vs Ipswich Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Chelsea have endured a poor couple of months as they fight for UEFA Champions League qualification ahead of taking on Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge in west London this weekend.
Kick-off date/time: Sunday 13th April, 2025: UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – Peacock
Chelsea Preview: Below par Blues
Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side have put poor teams to bed at Stamford Bridge since before Christmas but that is more or less it, and we have to include Tottenham Hotspur within that group of poor teams.
They are still pushing for UEFA Champions League qualification and put one foot into the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in midweek after a 3-0 demolition of Legia Warsaw in the Polish capital thanks to a goal from Tyrique George and a Noni Madueke brace.
Ipswich Preview: Frustrated Ipswich
Ipswich Town begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting in the bottom three and the relegation places and now 12 points adrift of safety with just 21 to play for as a result of a probably season defining defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
In that game, Ipswich went ahead in the first-half via the excellent Liam Delap but Wolves turned the game on its head to inflict Ipswich’s 19th defeat of the season as a result of second-half strikes from Pablo Sarabia and Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Chelsea Team News: Minutes for Jackson
There has been no updated team news from Chelsea following their defeat of Legia in Warsaw the other day but Maresca did say he hopes to give Nicolas Jackson some minutes this weekend. Both Romeo Lavia and Marc Guiu could be back soon, too.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Adarabioyo, James; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho; Nkunku
Unavailable: Fofana (Injured), Lavia (Injured), Kellyman (Injured), Mudryk (Disciplinary), Guiu (Injured)
Questionable:
Ipswich Team News: Hutchinson still a doubt
In his pre-match press conference, Kieran McKenna has confirmed that key player Omari Hutchinson remains a doubt against his former club after missing the last two matches. Conor Townsend was forced off last weekend and will have to be viewed as a doubt for this one, too.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Palmer; Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Cajuste; Johnson, Broadhead, Enciso; Delap
Unavailable: Muric (Injured), Burns (Injured), Ogbene (Injured), Szmodics (Injured)
Questionable: Townsend (Injured), Hutchinson (Injured)
Chelsea vs Ipswich Prediction
Chelsea have been struggling for the same sort of fluency and cohesion that they showed on a fairly consistent basis in the first-half of the campaign but, as mentioned, they have made easy work of defeating teams of the level of Ipswich throughout this calendar year. Ipswich have been generally competitive throughout the campaign but, as was to be expected and reasonably understood, they have struggled to match the levels of quality and a Chelsea victory is to be expected at Stamford Bridge – as they seek to get revenge on Ipswich winning the reverse fixture between these two sides at the back end of 2024.
Chelsea vs Ipswich Tip: Chelsea to win & both teams to score
