Ipswich vs Fulham Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 English Premier League
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It has been a tough start to the campaign for Ipswich Town following promotion last season after facing Liverpool and Manchester City last season but they now welcome likely-to-be-mid-table Fulham to Portman Road this weekend.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 31st August, 2024 - UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – Peacock, Fubo, Sling Blue or DirecTV Stream
IPSWICH PREVIEW: TRACTOR BOYS HITTING THE REAL PL
Kieran McKenna is the star man at Ipswich Town and the Northern Irish coach would probably have taken the results his side have had so far if you’d offered them to them before the season as they frustrated Liverpool before losing 2-0 and then went ahead against Manchester City before losing by four goals to one.
This is where the hard work and grind will begin for the Tractor Boys, though, after those glamour ties to begin their return to the top-flight. Picking up points at home to teams that are expected to be in mid-table, such as Fulham, is where we will know whether or not Ipswich are capable of remaining a Premier League side.
FULHAM PREVIEW: COTTAGERS GIVING THEM A WELCOME
Marco Silva is into his fourth season in charge of Fulham in west London and there may now be an expectation for the Cottagers to kick on from challenging for top-half finishes to potentially even pushing into the top seven and challenging for UEFA Europa Conference League qualification this season.
The Cottagers began their campaign at Old Trafford against Manchester United and were unfortunate to be narrowly beaten by a goal to nil thanks to a late Joshua Zirkzee strike before they then managed to squeeze out a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted Leicester City at Craven Cottage last weekend.
IPSWICH TEAM NEWS: NO NEW INJURIES
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Fulham this weekend, Kieran McKenna has confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns for the hosts with Nathan Broadhead the closest to a return of the injured contingent.
That contingent also includes Harry Clarke, who is also beginning a return, as well as Janoi Donacien, Wes Burns and George Hirst. Jack Clarke could make his Ipswich debut.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Muric; Johnson, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Hutchinson, Szmodics, J. Clarke; Delap
UNAVAILABLE: H. Clarke (Injured), Donacien (Injured), Burns (Injured), Broadhead (Injured), Hirst (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
FULHAM TEAM NEWS: NO CHANGES
The depth to Fulham’s squad was shown in their 2-0 defeat of Birmingham City in midweek in the second round of the EFL Cup at St Andrews with the Cottagers able to name a very strong second string side.
Much like last season, Marco Silva is blessed with a fully fit and available squad for this one with the Portuguese coach confirming there have been no changes to his squad.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Pereira, Lukic; Iwobi, Smith Rowe, Adama Traore; Rodrigo Muniz
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
IPSWICH VS FULHAM PREDICTION
Last season, throughout the campaign, as they gained automatic promotion from the second-tier and made it back-to-back promotions, Ipswich Town did so by playing an extremely entertaining style of football in which they did concede a lot of goals for a top two side. Fulham have plenty of talent in the attacking third to exploit that and will be confident of scoring with this one looking like it could be a bit of a thriller for the neutral.
IPSWICH VS FULHAM TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
