The Blues are back on Suffolk soil for the first time in nearly a month (Image: PA)
AND FINALLY…
Ipswich had four consecutive away games in February – Derby County, Wrexham (once in the FA Cup, once in the league) and Watford. If you used Portman Road as your starting point and you drove to each game and back, that’s a little over 1,400 miles, which would take you around 26 hours.
That’s not even factoring in the second postponed trip to Portsmouth, where the players and a number of fans had made the trip down to the South Coast before a waterlogged pitch saw it called off.
It means that there’s a real feeling of relief to be back on Suffolk soil for the first time in nearly a month, with three consecutive home games over the course of a week, starting with today’s game against Swansea.
Town come into it in fairly good shape. Impressive wins at Derby and Watford sandwiched disappointing defeats at Wrexham, with the 5-3 loss in the Championship proving to be particularly concerning. Still, promotion is in their hands with 14 games to go.
While question marks remain over Ipswich’s consistency on the road, Portman Road is different. Their record stands at 10 wins, five draws and just one defeat from 16 matches, the second best in the division behind leaders Coventry City.
Rapper Snoop Dogg is a new minority co-owner of Swansea City (Image: PA)
STRANGE TIMES AT SWANSEA
If I went back in time to this time last year and told you that there’s a football club with big American backing who recruited AC Milan midfielder / Real Madrid legend Luka Modric, rapper Snoop Dogg and TV personality Martha Stewart as co-owners, you might have raised an eyebrow.
Your jaw would probably have hit the floor if I told you that it was Championship side Swansea.
That’s the reality of the Swans’ current situation as they plot a return to the Premier League, having last played at the level in 2017/18. It’s unlikely to happen this season, but it’s not impossible.
Their start to the campaign under Alan Sheehan was tough, and worries about relegation to League One worsened after a 4-1 defeat at home to Ipswich in November left them hanging perilously above the drop zone. The club opted to make a change as a result, appointing Portuguese boss Vitor Matos.
Although their league position has shown no real improvement, performances and results have, with Watford and Bristol City both put to the sword in recent weeks. A stoppage-time strike on Tuesday night saw them take a point at home to Preston North End.
It took time for Matos to get his ideas across to his players, but it’s starting to happen. Sitting eight points outside of the play-off places, a top-six finish is incredibly unlikely, yet not impossible.
Swansea have a strong core, with ex-Blue Cameron Burgess partnering Ben Cabango in defence. Left-back Josh Tymon chips in with assists while Ethan Galbraith inverts into midfield from the right, where star man Goncalo Franco operates.
Ronald Pereira and Ji-Sung Eom have primarily flanked Zan Vipotnik, who Town will need to be particularly wary of.
Possible Swansea XI: 4-2-3-1: Vigoroux; Galbraith, Cabango, Burgess, Tymon; Yalcouye, Franco; Pereira, Cullen, Eom; Vipotnik
Zan Vipotnik is the top scorer in the Championship with 16 goals (Image: PA)
A CLINICAL FINISHER
This is the weekend that Ipswich will take on 23-year-old Slovenian striker Zan Vipotnik, the current top goalscorer in the Championship.
Signed from Bordeaux in 2024 after nine years at Maribor, he took time to adapt to English football, notching seven goals in 42 appearances last season, with just 24 starts.
Perhaps this campaign has seen them work to his strengths a bit more. Vipotnik isn’t an all-round striker. He’s not a relentless runner, he won’t be dominant in the air despite standing at 6’1 and he’ll rarely drop deep to link play. There are clear similarities between him and Joel Piroe, who also made his name in English football while at Swansea.
Both men are clinical, ruthless finishers. Vipotnik’s first thought, whenever he has the ball, is to shoot. He’s had 65 shots this season, 51 of which have come from inside the box. He likes to hit hard, as if he’s trying to break through the net. A true Championship poacher.
There are plenty of examples of this. Perhaps the most memorable came at home to Sheffield Wednesday, where he blasted a close-range free-kick with such ferocity goalkeeper Murphy Cooper could only stand there and watch it fizz past him.
If Town can cut off service to him, he’ll likely struggle, which has happened in recent games at Derby and home to Preston. But give him space in the box, he’ll punish any team at this level.
Welsh winger Wes Burns could return to the starting lineup against the Swans (Image: Ross Halls)
WHO COULD START?
There are certainly some big decisions for Kieran McKenna to make after the win at Watford.
Christian Walton will continue in goal after his penalty save in Hertfordshire. Darnell Furlong and Dara O’Shea will play in front of him, and I’d expect Cedric Kipre to join them.
If fit, Leif Davis will surely come back in at left-back, but Jacob Greaves has shown that he’s a superb deputy if needed. If there’s any doubts about Davis’ knock, I wouldn’t risk him.
Azor Matusiwa will play in midfield. There’s every chance that Dan Neil could be rested as he continues to build up match fitness, which would allow Jack Taylor or Jens Cajuste to step in, but I’ll back the Sunderland loanee to play this one.
In attack, Jack Clarke should keep his spot on the left, with boyhood Cardiff City fan Wes Burns coming in on the right in place of Walle Egeli. I’d still choose Ivan Azon to lead the line.
The biggest dilemma in the team comes in the no.10 role. Marcelino Nunez was brilliant in midweek, but he’s only just come back from injury, while Anis Mehmeti has shown real quality since his January move from Bristol City.
I’ll go with the latter here.
Possible Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Kipre, Greaves; Matusiwa, Neil; Burns, Mehmeti, Clarke; Azon.
Town have suffered just one home defeat this season (Image: Ross Halls)
MY PREDICTION
Swansea are a low-margin team when it comes to goals in their games, but they are attack-minded and expansive in their play, looking to dominate possession under Matos. That’s unlikely to happen at Portman Road, but I can’t see them setting up to defend against Ipswich.
Given the Blues’ home record, I think they will have enough to get over the line. It might not be pretty, and there’s no guarantees they will silence Vipotnik over 90 minutes, but I think they can edge it. Town to win 2-1.