The Tractor Boys overcame Reading on penalties in the second round, while Gary O’Neil‘s men crushed Blackpool 5-0 to progress this far.
Match preview
With one top-flight title and FA Cup still shining brightly in the silverware cabinet, Ipswich are yet to go all the way in the EFL Cup, but if their early-season form is anything to go by, Kieran McKenna‘s team could spring a surprise or two in this year’s edition.
Following a straightforward 2-0 triumph over Bristol Rovers in round one, Ipswich travelled to crisis club Reading and were on the brink of victory in normal time, only for Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan to draw the Royals level with 87 minutes gone, but Ruben Selles‘s side missed three of their four spot kicks in the shootout to send Ipswich through.
Amid their quest for EFL Cup supremacy, Ipswich are already on track for back-to-back promotions courtesy of a sensational start to life back in the Championship, which continued with a captivating 4-3 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, stretching their winning run in all tournaments to five games.
With 21 points taken from the first 24 on offer in the Championship, McKenna’s charges sit level with Leicester City at the top of the standings – albeit behind the Foxes on goal difference – but their total of 17 strikes is the joint-best attacking record in the division alongside Norwich City.
A first EFL Cup fourth-round appearance since 2010-11 – where they reached the semi-finals before being sent packing by Arsenal – is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for the Tractor Boys, who have lost just once in their last 22 games at home, but shipping nine goals in their last three at Portman Road is hardly reassuring either.
Against the run of play and with 10 men on the field owing to a red card to Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – whose moment of madness saw him kick out at Tom Lockyer – Wolves drew first blood at Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road headquarters on Saturday courtesy of Pedro Neto‘s thunderous effort.
O’Neil’s men had to absorb a wave of first-half pressure from their hosts before striking through their Portuguese wing wizard, but Wolves were left to rue another contentious officiating decision, as Joao Gomes was penalised after the ball deflected off his foot and bounced onto his hand; Carlton Morris did the rest from 12 yards.
While Luton were full value for their first Premier League point of the season – and maybe even deserved all three – there was a sense of injustice against Wolves, whose head coach O’Neil lashed out at the “absolutely terrible” decision to award the Hatters their draw-snatching penalty, which leaves Wolves with just the one win to show from their six top-flight contests in 2023-24.
However, the West Midlands outfit demolished Blackpool in their EFL Cup opener, where Matt Doherty was an unlikely two-goal hero, and the two-time EFL Cup winners have suffered just one defeat to lower-league opposition since their return to the big time in 2018.
Before both teams temporarily bid farewell to the Championship, Wolves clinched a pair of 1-0 wins over Ipswich in 2017-18, leaving the Tractor Boys without a goal in five games against their visitors and without a win since a 2-1 Portman Road success in November 2014.
Team News
Ipswich should enter Tuesday’s match with only goalkeeper Christian Walton (foot) out of the lineup due to the seven-goal spectacular they played against Blackburn.
Cieran Slicker may try to demote Vaclav Hladky to the bench, as he did against Reading, and Manchester United loanee Brandon Williams is a candidate to take the place of Leif Davis, who is only recently making a full recovery from his own injury.
Omari Hutchinson and Freddie Ladapo should also throw their hat into the ring for starts up top, but despite the quick turnaround time, McKenna should still keep faith with most of his big-hitters given the calibre of opposition.
Changes can be expected on Wolves’ end too, but at least one of them will be enforced, as summer signing Bellegarde begins a three-match domestic ban for his inexcusable red card in Saturday’s draw with Luton.
On a brighter note, Bellegarde may only be one of two absentees for Wolves this week, as midfielder Joe Hodge is working his way back from a muscular problem – which he sustained in the second round – and has a slim chance of coming back for the third-round tie, but O’Neil will certainly avoid risking him from the off.
Boubacar Traore and Tommy Doyle represent alternative options for rotation in the engine room, while Doherty, Toti Gomes, Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic should also be granted opportunities to impress the manager.
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Slicker; Clarke, Woolfenden, Baggott, Williams; Evans, Luongo; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Broadhead; Ladapo
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Doherty, Toti, Kilman, Bueno; Sarabia, Traore, Gomes, Doyle; Silva, Kalajdzic
We say: Ipswich Town 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Ipswich to win on penalties)
An in-form Ipswich are a different proposition to a leaky Blackpool for Wolves, who were fortunate to travel home from Luton with a point in the bag and cannot make the fatal mistake of underestimating their Championship counterparts.
Despite their penchant for attacking supremacy at home, Ipswich have also been leaking goals at an alarming rate at Portman Road, so this tie may very well need to be settled from 12 yards after an entertaining draw, where Ipswich’s recent shootout exploits can create an upset.
