Leicester vs Ipswich prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2025-05-17 14:00.
[p]Leicester City and Ipswich Town have both had weeks to begin preparing for a return to the Championship in 2025/26, but there is ample reason for them to treat their penultimate game this season as a shootout of sorts. There is an estimated difference of £2.8m between the ‘merit payments’ that the clubs will earn from the Premier League for finishing 18th or 19th, which should drive both teams to strive for 18th despite ultimately sharing the same on-field fate. [/p]
[p]The hosts here are in the driving seat after collecting five points from their last five matches, most recently denting Nottingham Forest’s UEFA Champions League qualification dreams (2-2) after defeating Southampton 2-0 in their last home outing. Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, who confessed last weekend that he is uncertain about his future, therefore could not “thank the players enough” for buying into his change of narrative since relegation was confirmed. [/p]
[p]Ipswich, by contrast, have not had a change of fortune as they largely continue heading in the wrong direction, having won only one of their 17 Premier League matches in 2025 (D4, L12), with their first top-flight spell in more than 20 years lasting just one season. Boss Kieran McKenna, who will reportedly not be sacked this summer despite their relegation, promised after their 1-0 loss to Brentford last weekend that they will continue looking for improvement to the end. [/p]
[p]Incremental improvement could see them go one better than the 1-1 draw they earned against Leicester in early November, especially when some of their best results this term have been registered away from home. That meeting with the Foxes was immediately followed by the first of Ipswich’s three 2-1 Premier League wins on the road since then (D4, L6), perhaps offering hope to the Tractor Boys faithful of one last hurrah before returning to the second tier. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Thirty-eight-year-old Jamie Vardy should play his 500th game for Leicester and his last for them at home, where he has scored six of his nine goals in all competitions this season after netting against Southampton earlier this month. Julio Enciso will be hoping to steal the limelight after scoring Ipswich’s first goal in two of their last three league away matches. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Leicester and Ipswich have both earned just two Premier League clean sheets this campaign – the joint-worst record in the division. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]