On Saturday, Sheffield Wednesday will host Ipswich Town at Portman Road. The two teams, who both earned promotion from League One last season, are at the opposite ends of the Championship table. the visitors are second after winning four of their previous five Championship games prior to the recent international break, while the hosts have only earned one point from their opening five games.
Match preview
The Owls were slow to get going upon their return to England’s second division; they eventually lost 2-1 to recently relegated Southampton in their season opener, and then won on penalties against Stockport County in the EFL Cup before losing 4-2 away at Hull City, where Ozan Tufan scored twice after Juan Delgado had given Munoz’s team the lead.
The South Yorkshire team once again came up empty-handed against Preston North End at home, with Liam Lindsay scoring the lone goal. Then, in agonizing fashion, the losing streak was extended to four league games when their match at Cardiff City appeared to be headed to a goal-all draw after Barry Bannan’s goal equaliser, only for the visitors to win a penalty deep into injury time, with Ryan Wintle converting to deny them a share of the spoils.
The Owls’ most recent league match was a difficult journey to Yorkshire rivals Leeds United at the start of September, and they stood strong there to get off to a good start at the fifth attempt with a goalless draw. This came after the Owls were eliminated from the EFL Cup by fourth-tier Mansfield Town.
The international break put an end to their dismal start to the Championship season, but Xisco’s team will still face a challenging test on Saturday when they play the team who narrowly beat them to automatic promotion the previous season.
Ipswich Town, managed by Kieran McKenna, finished second with 98 points and had the best offensive and defensive records in the third tier, scoring 101 goals while only allowing 35 in 46 games, bringing them back to the Championship this year after a four-year absence.
The Tractor Boys had a smooth transition as well, jumping into the lead after winning their first three league games of the new season, beginning with a 2-1 win away at Sunderland thanks to goals from George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead, before a 2-0 win over Stoke City at Portman Road thanks to goals from Luke Woolfenden and Kayden Jackson.
Conor Chaplin would then score the only goal of the game as they made it three in a row away at Queens Park Rangers, before McKenna’s men suffered their first setback in a dramatic home match against Leeds United, eventually losing 4-3 despite going ahead through a Joe Rodon own goal, as the visitors went 3-1 and 4-2 up with Chaplin’s goal coming too late to force a turnaround.
Following that first loss and a return to winning ways in the EFL Cup after a penalty shootout against Reading, Ipswich most recently faced Cardiff City before the recent international break, and they went down 2-0 on home turf as Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ralls found the net for the Bluebirds, but McKenna’s men fought back and took all three points, as Broadhead initially pulled a goal back on the hour mark before Freddie Ladapo netted a brace off the bench to
As a result, the newly-promoted Tractor Boys went into the break with 12 points from their first five games, and now that they’ve rested for the weekend, they’ll seek to take up where they left off and make it five wins from six on Saturday with the chance to retake top spot.
Team News
Akin Famewo, summer acquisitions Bambo Diaby and Di’Shon Bernard, and newcomers Akin Famewo and Di’Shon Bernard will likely form the middle of a back five for Xisco Munoz’s team. After lining up his team in a 4-3-3 shape to start the new season, Munoz switched to a more conservative shape for the trip to Leeds.
That left the Owls with just two midfield positions at Elland Road, and if the same system is used again, George Byers and Barry Bannan will be difficult to replace, despite competition from Will Vaulks, Tyreeq Bakinson, deadline-day signings Jeff Hendrick and John Buckley, who are also hoping to play, and Momo Diaby, who recently joined on loan from Portimonense, who will miss a significant amount of time due to injury.
Lee Gregory and Josh Windass provided support for Michael Smith in that game’s starting lineup, and Munoz was able to use that same lineup despite competition from Ashley Fletcher and winger Anthony Musaba.
With quality and depth throughout the field, Kieran McKenna must make several decisions with his Ipswich Town starting XI in their 4-2-3-1 formation. Up front, Freddie Ladapo has a strong case to come in after his pivotal brace off the bench in their win over Cardiff before the break, while George Hirst has been preferred as the lone striker from the start of the season.
Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns, and Nathan Broadhead, a dangerous trio who together scored 46 goals in all competitions last season, will support whichever lone striker is used. Chaplin scored 29 of those goals, including a league-high 26 goals in England’s third tier.
Massimo Luongo and Sam Morsy, the Tractor Boys’ captain, should maintain their positions behind them. In front of goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky, who continues to fill in for Christian Walton, Luke Woolfenden and Christian Burgess will reorganize their center-back partnership.
Vasquez; Paterson; Bernard; Diaby; Famewo; Delgado; Bannan; Byers; Windass; Smith; Gregory might be Sheffield Wednesday’s starting lineup.
Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy; Luongo; Burns; Chaplin; Broadhead; Hirst are potential starters for Ipswich Town.
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Ipswich Town
Sheffield Wednesday should have some reason for confidence as the team drew away at Leeds before the break, but they have yet to really get going under their new manager this season, while the guests have adapted to life back in the second tier without any trouble.
We think the Tractor Boys will win on Saturday, extending their winning streak to five games in a row. They have momentum on their side and possibly better talent throughout the team.
