Birmingham vs Ipswich prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-11-03 15:00.
Birmingham City were beaten 3-1 by Southampton last Saturday as Wayne Rooney’s poor start in charge extended to three consecutive defeats. The new manager saw the second-half response to being 2-0 down at half-time as a positive however, assuring fans that he knows where he wants “to get to and how to get there”. However, the Blues are five points behind the play-off places ahead of this round following the defeat on the south coast, with a top-six finish what Rooney and the new ownership expect after the club’s 12-year absence from the Premier League.
The hosts now run the risk of losing four Championship games on the bounce for the first time since February as they prepare to face second-placed Ipswich Town at St Andrew’s. They haven’t lost at this venue to the East Anglian club in six meetings though (W3, D3), and considering Birmingham have collected four of their five league wins this season at home, Rooney will hope to see his side claim their first win under his tenure.
Taking anything from the current Ipswich side is likely to be a huge challenge though, as the Tractor Boys extended their remarkable start to this campaign with a 3-2 triumph over Plymouth Argyle last Saturday. That result made it nine matches unbeaten in the Championship (W8, D1) and four consecutive victories, meaning they now have the chance to become the first newly promoted English second-tier team since Brentford in November 2014 to make it five on the bounce.
Such a scenario would extend their already-comfortable hold on the runners-up spot in the league standings as the Suffolk outfit sit five points behind leaders Leicester City with a game in hand. Kieran McKenna’s side have been exceptionally strong on their travels, remaining undefeated in away league encounters this season (W5, D1), with four of those wins accompanied by clean sheets. That gives them hope of beginning to improve their poor recent away league H2H record at this stadium, where they haven’t shut out the hosts since their last win in 2012.
Players to watch: Jay Stansfield had an entertaining afternoon at Southampton, coming off the bench to score Birmingham’s lone goal and picking up a late yellow card. He will be looking to erase the hurt of losing 8-0 on aggregate to Ipswich last campaign in League One with Exeter City, with Leif Davis notching one of his 14 assists in 2022/23 during the 2-0 victory in Devon last November. And the Ipswich left-back has continued to excel going forward this term, with four assists in his last four games.
Hot stat: Ipswich have scored exactly once in their last five away league matches and also in four of the last six H2Hs.