Ipswich vs Coventry prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-01 15:00.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was delighted with “a good night’s work” as his side breezed past struggling Millwall (3-1) in midweek to move within a point of Championship leaders Leicester City coming into the weekend. The Tractor Boys are certainly giving their historic home on Portman Road a fortress-like status this campaign, winning all but one of their nine league games there (L1) and scoring 3+ goals on eight separate occasions.
Whilst they can sometimes take time to get going, as illustrated when they fell behind early on in their 3-2 wins at home to both Plymouth and Swansea, Ipswich have been a near unstoppable force when playing at their best. With some of the entertaining and confident football they’ve been playing, it’s easy to forget that this is their first season back in the second tier since 2018/19, making their start all the more remarkable as they look to return to the Premier League for the first time in over 20 years.
Coventry City got back into the Championship three years before Ipswich did, making an unsuccessful play-off tilt just last season. They too recently thrashed Millwall – 3-0 away from home last weekend – before consolidating that result with a 1-0 midweek victory at home to fellow bottom-half club Plymouth – a pair of results that see them a comfortable nine points clear of the drop zone at the start of the round.
Things have been quite challenging away from home though, particularly against the better performing clubs of the Championship. Coventry’s five away league trips to clubs starting this round in a higher position have resulted in a 1-1 draw at Hull and four losses all by a single goal margin. With three consecutive clean sheets across their last three Championship games across all venues, they might have met Ipswich’s formidable attack at the perfect time.
Players to watch: Conor Chaplin has scored in five separate Championship home games for Ipswich, the last four of which all came before half-time. Coventry forward Matt Godden has been productive on the road, scoring in four competitive away trips, albeit without the same team success (W1, D1, L2).
Hot streak: Ipswich’s last ten competitive matches all saw the opening goal scored within 20 minutes.