Southampton vs Ipswich prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-18 18:45.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to pinpoint Southampton’s current problems after they were beaten 4-1 at home by Leicester on Friday evening. The defeat followed a 5-0 thrashing away at Sunderland at the start of the month which now means that after Saturday’s games, the Saints had conceded at least three more goals than any other side in the division. At St Mary’s alone, Russell Martin’s side have conceded nine from three while they went through the whole of their 2022/23 Premier League relegation season keeping only one clean sheet at home, ironically against Leicester!
Martin has vowed to “sort it out” saying his side “won’t keep conceding this many goals” but that may be easier said than done against Ipswich Town, who are scoring two goals a game on average in this Championship season. However, Southampton fans haven’t seen their side defeated by Ipswich since 2007 (W4, D4) and in spite of their troubles, they remain inside the top-half of the table.
Ipswich have maintained the form which saw them win promotion from League One last season and travel to the south coast with five victories in the league so far. It was another win on the road on Saturday as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough, three points which left manager Kieran McKenna enthused, saying he “loved the game, the performance and the result.”
McKenna has seen his side keep clean sheets in their last two Championship away matches, while they’ve conceded only one goal away from home in the league so far. If Ipswich can keep the back door bolted once more then it will be the first time that they have done so in three successive away games at this level since December 2013!
Players to watch: Samuel Edozie has notched in both of Southampton’s last two home games, with both goals arriving before half-time. Conor Chaplin has scored in three of Ipswich’s last four Championship matches and has been the only match scorer in their last two away games.
Hot stat: Ipswich have won all three of their Championship away games this season by a one-goal margin.