The Sky Bet Championship returns from the international break on Friday night when two sides who were billed as promotion chasers at the beginning of the campaign meet at Portman Road when Ipswich Town host Sheffield United.
It is fair to say that neither of these teams had the start to the season that they would have wanted prior to the international break but there has been two weeks to have a reset and get ready to launch themselves into action here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up beginning at 7pm ahead of the 8pm kick off in Suffolk.
Ipswich Town
It is never easy for a team to come down from the Premier League and hit the ground running in the Championship, especially for a side who were still carrying players from their promotion campaigns who having tasted the big time would have wanted to get back there. That might equate to the slow start for the Tractor Boys, but to be fair to them they have already faced Birmingham City and Southampton, the two sides immediately below them in the ante-post betting market, so the schedule hasn’t been a walk in the park.
Ipswich have the highest possession in the Championship so far and the third highest xG in the division so although they are yet to win a game, the numbers are telling us that they are playing well enough and you would imagine that it will only be a matter of time before results begin to match performances. One issue has been missing chances so the time to work with the likes of Chuba Akpom and Ivan Azon should see improvement in that area for the hosts.
Sheffield United
Four months ago Sheffield United were a matter of 20 minutes or so from being a Premier League club but things have fallen apart in a big way since then. Chris Wilder paid the price for not getting promotion, even though in any normal year the point tally he achieved would have won automatic promotion back to the Premier League, with Ruben Selles coming in and to say he has struggled in the early stages of his reign at Bramall Lane would be an understatement.
We are approaching 350 minutes since the last time Sheffield United found the net in league play – something they have only done once all season – so you would have expected a bunch of attacking players to come in towards the end of the transfer window. Instead they spent it signing centre-halves and not necessarily good ones in each case either. It will be interesting to see how they go in the possession based style that Selles is looking to transform into the way the Blades play but it is fair to say that the jury is very much out on them so far.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the EFL (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
Kieran McKenna admitted that Sammie Szmodics is a doubt for this match but didn’t rule him out of the game. Summer signing Marcelino Nunez is available after injury while Harry Clarke and Cameron Humphreys are both in line for selection too.
Ruben Selles kept his cards close to his chest in his pre-match press conference but he could give a debut to new signings Mark McGuinness, Ben Mee and Alex Matos while Chiedozie Ogbene is ineligible against his parent club.
Betting
I’m not going to get overly funky with this match. I mentioned in my outright preview that I can’t be having Sheffield United at all under Ruben Selles so it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that he is already under pressure and rumours are already doing the rounds that potential replacements have been lined up. His signings since their last match have done nothing to impress me either and if he thinks the likes of Tahith Chong and Mark McGuinness are the answer, I can tell him having watched the pair for the past 12 months that the question is completely wrong.
On the face of it, Ipswich Town are a side without a win this season but they are playing much better than their results suggest and I expect them to come out on top here. They should have had enough time to address their centre-forward concerns and the rest of their team looks in decent order. Sheffield United might improve defensively in time but Vini Souza is the man they are missing and there doesn’t look to have been a replacement come in for him. I’m with the hosts in this one.
Tips
Back Ipswich Town to beat Sheffield United for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Unibet
