Ipswich Town and West Brom Set for High-Stakes Clash at Portman Road
It’s shaping up to be an intense lunchtime showdown this Saturday as Ipswich Town host West Bromwich Albion at Portman Road in what promises to be a pivotal Sky Bet Championship encounter. Both sides head into this fixture licking their wounds after midweek defeats, and each will be desperate to turn things around before momentum slips further away.
For Ipswich, the mood around Portman Road has been a little uneasy in recent days. Kieran McKenna’s side were humbled 3–0 at home by Charlton Athletic, a result that stunned supporters and left the Tractor Boys searching for answers. It came just days after another setback — a narrow 2–1 defeat away to Middlesbrough — which means Ipswich have now suffered back-to-back losses. The run has left them 11 points adrift of the top two, and while their ambition of bouncing straight back to the Premier League remains alive, they’ll need consistency — and fast — to stay in the race.
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McKenna, who guided Ipswich through consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League in 2023 and 2024, now faces one of his biggest tests since taking charge. The manager was frank after Tuesday’s defeat, calling his side’s performance “unacceptable” and warning that things can “go south very quickly” when standards drop. The focus this weekend will be on rediscovering the intensity and confidence that made them one of the division’s most exciting attacking teams earlier in the campaign.
But standing in their way is a West Brom side also with a point to prove. Ryan Mason’s men were edged out 2–1 by Watford on Wednesday, despite a strong start. The Baggies have shown flashes of quality this season — winning tough away games at Stoke, Wrexham, and Norwich — but inconsistency has been their Achilles’ heel. Their recent form of alternating wins and losses shows how unpredictable they can be.
History offers some interesting balance between these clubs. Ipswich hold the edge in overall meetings, with 33 wins to West Brom’s 23, though Albion haven’t lost to the Tractor Boys in their last six league encounters. Their last meeting at Portman Road ended in a dramatic 2–2 draw, sealed by a last-minute Ipswich equaliser.
Both sides are expected to stick with attacking 4-2-3-1 setups. Ipswich may hand goalkeeper Christian Walton his first league start of the season after Alex Palmer’s injury, while West Brom could see Josh Maja return to lead the line.
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