Championship - Ipswich Town vs Sunderland AFC Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town v Sunderland



Saturday 13th January 2024 – 17:30


Portman Road








Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike



Last weekends welcome break from Championship Football saw Town travel to the capital to take on AFC Wimbledon in a Third Round FA Cup tie and in truth it provided Town with little trouble as we progressed to the Fourth round for the second successive season courtesy of a 3-1 win over the League Two side. Surprisingly Kieran McKenna went with a pretty strong line up, the side including Broadhead, Morsy, Woolfenden, Hutchinson & Harness, it also gave some of the fringe players another run out and Taylor, Humphreys, Ball, Ladapo, Walton, Tuanzebe & Edmundson will all be greatful for the opportunity to impress, as will new signing Sarmiento who got to come on and make his Town debut.

I think it is true to say that from the moment Town took the lead in the Eighth minute the contest was pretty straightforward while still competitive and despite Wimbledon getting themselves level thanks to a penalty Town rarely looked in trouble and always looked the more likely so when Axel Tuanzebe gave us the lead for the second time just before the interval the odds were very short on Town not seeing it through. Of course the Red card handed to Harry Pell helped make it even more comfortable and by the time Jack Taylor made it 3-1 in the dying seconds Town had done more than enough to secure their place in Monday's Fourth round draw.

As much as we see promotion to the Premier League as our main aim it has to be said how refreshing it feels to see Town actually taking the Cup seriously and playing a fairly strong team, it's also nice not to be one of the sides dumped out by lower league opposition, we've had more than enough of our share in recent years. Our attention turns to the draw and hopefully an eye catching home tie against One of the big boys will be our reward, failing that Norwich or an easy home game, if there is such a thing.

We return to League action this Saturday with a tea time kick off in front of those dreaded Sky Cameras against tricky opponents in Sunderland FC who despite an up and down season so far still find themselves in Sixth place and with it the final play off spot, I don't think many envisaged the Black cats being a massive Fifteen points behind Town at the juncture but that is exactly where they find themselves right now, that said they still represent very tough opposition for sure and with the likes of Clarke, Bellingham, Pritchard etc in their ranks they have individuals who on their day are match winners and with that in mind Town will need to really be on their game if we are to halt this Four League game winless run.

Mark Ashton and co have been busy already in the Transfer market as we strive to strengthen the squad for the second half of the campaign, the loan signings of Jeremy Sarmiento & Lewis Travis appear, on paper at least, to be very astute additions in positions that definitely needed some strengthening especially with the skipper set to sit out the next Two games. At the time of writing we still await that much needed Striker or Two to walk through the door so we must go with what we have in that department for the time being.

Town still very much have everything to play for and having repelled the push by Leeds Utd to close us down we now have Southampton hot on heels, they are on a blistering run of form without really setting the world alight but don't be fooled as they have a real tough run of games coming up in the not too distant future, we still have a couple of real tough ones coming up but you would like to think we have almost had our really tough run of games.

I think this is One of the most important games of the season so far because we could actually drop out of the top Two for the first time in quite a while but more important than that is the need to see this winless league run stopped, to extend to Five would have the scribes sharpening their pencils for sure, even though we should really have beaten Norwich & Stoke and played excellently against Leicester City it will still be viewed by some as a poor run. Hopefully we will have most of our players back fit and healthy and I can see us nicking this one by the odd goal so it's a narrow Town win for me. COYB'S.



The Opposition – Sunderland - Honours


League

First Division / Premier League

Champions (6): 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36
Runners-up: 1893–94, 1897–98, 1900–01, 1922–23, 1934–35

Second Division / Championship

Champions: 1975–76, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2004–05, 2006–07
Promoted: 1963–64, 1979–80
Play-off winners: 1990

Third Division / League One

Champions: 1987–88
Play-off winners: 2022


Cup

FA Cup

Winners: 1936–37, 1972–73
Runners-up: 1912–13, 1991–92

Football League Cup

Runners-up: 1984–85, 2013–14

FA Charity Shield

Winners: 1936
Runners-up: 1937

EFL Trophy

Winners: 2020–21
Runners-up: 2018–19




The Manager – Michael Beale







League Table as at 08.01.2024






Form Guide




Ipswich Town


16 Dec Ipswich Town 2 - 2 Norwich City

23 Dec Leeds Utd 4 - 0 Ipswich Town

26 Dec Ipswich Town 1 - 1 Leicester City

29 Dec Ipswich Town 0 - 0 QP Rangers

1 Jan Stoke City 0 - 0 Ipswich Town





Sunderland AFC



16 Dec Bristol City 1 - 0 Sunderland

23 Dec Sunderland 0 - 3 Coventry City

26 Dec Hull City 0 - 1 Sunderland

29 Dec Rotherham 1 - 1 Sunderland

1 Jan Sunderland 2 - 0 Preston






Head to Head






Match referee – Sam Allison









IPSWICH TOWN 2 SUNDERLAND 1

[hallamblue]

Gone for a draw I’m afraid as can’t see where the goal is coming from now Hirst’s link up play has gone… this is why Chappers is anon.

[Denny61]

3.1 to the town..

[shabba]

A few questions marks of the selection,

hladky

Clarke (should be fit I’d think)
Axel (or will George get a go again?)
Wolfie
Davis (or if still out then Clark at LB and axel at rb)

Travis (assume he will start with Morsy out)
Masimo

Burns
Chaplin
hanress

Broadhead

I mean SO many moving parts. Maybe ladapo starts or Jackson, and Broadhead plays his usual left 10 role, or does Samremento get given a start wide left - or Hanress….?

Gosh it’s a hard one to predict this week!

[hallamblue]

I reckon he’ll go with Woolfie / Edmundson .. not that I would but we have little else do we.
But play Travis in front of them it might help a lot .

[Charnwood]

A few questions marks of the selection,

hladky

Clarke (should be fit I’d think)
Axel (or will George get a go again?)
Wolfie
Davis (or if still out then Clark at LB and axel at rb)

Travis (assume he will start with Morsy out)
Masimo

Burns
Chaplin
hanress

Broadhead

I mean SO many moving parts. Maybe ladapo starts or Jackson, and Broadhead plays his usual left 10 role, or does Samremento get given a start wide left - or Hanress….?

Gosh it’s a hard one to predict this week!

I don’t think you’ll be far out there Shabba. I think Travis is a nailed on certainty with Luongo and Axel if he’s fit. I’m just hoping Clarke and Davis both make it.

[rossi]

A few questions marks of the selection,

hladky

Clarke (should be fit I’d think)
Axel (or will George get a go again?)
Wolfie
Davis (or if still out then Clark at LB and axel at rb)

Travis (assume he will start with Morsy out)
Masimo

Burns
Chaplin
hanress

Broadhead

I mean SO many moving parts. Maybe ladapo starts or Jackson, and Broadhead plays his usual left 10 role, or does Samremento get given a start wide left - or Hanress….?

Gosh it’s a hard one to predict this week!

I hope to God you're wrong because I have a couple of problems with your selections - Broadhead is not a proven number 9, and 2 of the 3 players you name behind the central striker flatter to decieve

[shabba]

What would you do then Rossi?

[Bluemike]

Hladky

Clarke
Tuanzebe
Woolfy
Davis or Humphreys

Luongo
Travis

Burns
Chaplin
Broadhead

Ladapo

[rossi]

What would you do then Rossi?

Given that it has to be 4-2-3-1

Hladky

Clarke
Tuanzebe
Woolfy
Davis (or Humphreys)

Luongo
Travis

Sarmiento
Chaplin
Broadhead

Ladapo

[QldBlue]

You and Mike both think Travis will start ahead of Taylor?

[Charnwood]

You and Mike both think Travis will start ahead of Taylor?

For what it’s worth I think that too. As far as I can see Travis has been aquired mainly as cover for Morsy but with the possibility of playing alongside him if he’s good enough. Morsy & Luongo are both in their early 30’s whilst Travis is only 25 and has age on his side.

[QldBlue]

And did I miss an update… is Davis def. not match fit for this one?

[Charnwood]

And did I miss an update… is Davis def. not match fit for this one?

I’ve not read that yet but will try to find out. Welcome onboard by the way, nice to see another new face posting.

[Charnwood]

To go five games without a win would be unthinkable and if we still have aspirations of filling one of the automatic places this mustn’t happen. Unlike earlier in the season it’s not the defence we have to look at as the back line has been pretty solid conceding only 1 goal in our last three league games. Our problem now is lack of goals with only 1 goals
scored in 4 games, whereas earlier in the season we were scoring for fun and until December were the joint top scorers in English football averaging almost 3 goals a game. At the moment it’s hard to even see where a goal is coming from especially with no George Hirst who has been both a scorer and a provider.
Whilst I’ve always been a Ladapo fan I don’t see him as being good enough for the Championship as his ball control particularly his first touch simply doesn’t make the grade at this level. I think our best chance this weekend would be to play Broadhead in the No9 role and hope we can score and at the same time keep a clean sheet to win 1-0. Sunderland ‘s problem this season has also been scoring goals and both Bristol City and Coventry City kept clean sheets against them to win in December.
My prediction, which if I’m honest is a wish more than a prediction would be Ipswich 1-0 Sunderland.

[shabba]

You and Mike both think Travis will start ahead of Taylor?

For what it’s worth I think that too. As far as I can see Travis has been aquired mainly as cover for Morsy but with the possibility of playing alongside him if he’s good enough. Morsy & Luongo are both in their early 30’s whilst Travis is only 25 and has age on his side.

This'!

Taylor used for 'easier' games where we need more goals from Midfield.

[Cabanas Blue]

Leif and Harry Clarke both back on the grass. Will make decisions ahead of tomorrow. Janoi has ongoing groin issue. Having injections, last next week.
Brandon at Manchester United with medical team being assessed. Had soft tissue injuries and illness. Conversation after that and hopefully he'll return to being the player he was earlier in the season. Wants loan to continue.
From the presser on TWTD.

[Cabanas Blue]

Not many strikers available, not many have moved this window. Reality of market. We want to attract players to the club that fit criteria, need to be a bit more adaptable and flexible in Jan but goal is to find players who fit style, which limits selection a bit.

Again from Phil TWTD.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

Coming down to this tomorrow and will be very anxious. I can see us even losing this one. Why? We'll be without Morsy and Davis as both of them are monumental players for us.

Morsy two games in which he hasn't played this season Huddersfield and QPR is a good example as we struggled without him in midfield.

I believe though that Broadhead can do Hirst job tomorrow.

Town to lose 0-1 I'm afraid and please I want to be wrong.

[Charnwood]

Maybe we need to look outside the UK for a striker as we appear to have a massive shortfall in the EFL meaning there’s little movement. This isn’t helped by the Premier League clubs reluctance to release their lower ranked goal scorers even if they’re getting very limited game time. The only consolation is that it’s the same for everyone.

[Cabanas Blue]

Blackburn have rejected two bids - £1m and £1.5m - for Sam Gallagher from Ipswich. Town are also looking at Watford striker Mileta Rajovic with George Hirst out long term. #rovers #itfc


Sam Gallagher.
11 goals in the 2016 - 2017 season he's best not for me but what do I know
I no nothing about Rajovic.

Just rumours I expect.

[Shed on tour]

Anybody else think that we may end up not getting another striker in? Obviously it will be a massive blow if this was the case but we know that you nearly always pay over the odds for players in this window and with clubs knowing our situation in trying to find a replacement for Hirst they will no doubt try and push the asking price up further.
It appears even trying to get somebody in on loan is not going to be easy. The other problem is finding somebody to fit in with our style of play. I would not be surprised if at the end of the day we end up going with what we have got and wait until the summer window to find suitable cover.

[Charnwood]

Anybody else think that we may end up not getting another striker in? Obviously it will be a massive blow if this was the case but we know that you nearly always pay over the odds for players in this window and with clubs knowing our situation in trying to find a replacement for Hirst they will no doubt try and push the asking price up further.
It appears even trying to get somebody in on loan is not going to be easy. The other problem is finding somebody to fit in with our style of play. I would not be surprised if at the end of the day we end up going with what we have got and wait until the summer window to find suitable cover.

Sadly I think you might be right Shed. … I certainly don’t think we should be buying Gallagher from Blackburn, FFS he’d only scored 2 goals so far this season, the same as Brandon Williams, Massimo Luongo and Kayden Jackson. He almost certainly won’t be the answer to our prayers.

Hey Shed, don’t forget your predictions mate.

[Shed on tour]

Anybody else think that we may end up not getting another striker in? Obviously it will be a massive blow if this was the case but we know that you nearly always pay over the odds for players in this window and with clubs knowing our situation in trying to find a replacement for Hirst they will no doubt try and push the asking price up further.
It appears even trying to get somebody in on loan is not going to be easy. The other problem is finding somebody to fit in with our style of play. I would not be surprised if at the end of the day we end up going with what we have got and wait until the summer window to find suitable cover.

Sadly I think you might be right Shed. … I certainly don’t think we should be buying Gallagher from Blackburn, FFS he’d only scored 2 goals so far this season, the same as Brandon Williams, Massimo Luongo and Kayden Jackson. He almost certainly won’t be the answer to our prayers.

Hey Shed, don’t forget your predictions mate.

Charny, I picked your pm up about the predictions and will do them in the next hour. Thanks. Totally agree with you about Gallagher and his injury record is a big concern as well.

[herforder]

Our sudden lack of goals recently isn’t just down to GH’s absence; his personal goal tally isn’t outstanding, but he possesses other key attributes that have contributed hugely. Other managers, however, have worked out how to set up and play against us - notably WBA and Leeds - and it’s something KM and the boys need to work around in our game.

No doubt tomorrow’s going to be another hard fought toughie - whoever makes it into the starting eleven. Let’s hope we can get those back who will allow the strongest, balanced, team to start. Would personally go for NB over Freddie to play the GH role; he’s better technically with the ball at his feet. Think FL’s shown signs of lacking confidence - perhaps understandably. Of all the decisions confronting KM, believe getting this key selection right is the most important.

Another Sky match - which, despite everything, I think we’ll edge 2-1. COYB!

[QldBlue]

Feeling a bit tense about this next game but I have to keep reminding myself that we’re currently 2 spots below the premier League and not stuck in the tar pit that was league one!

I don’t have the technical understanding of the game that a lot of you clearly do but it seems to me that one of our strengths this season has been that our goals gave come from so many of our players - something like 19 different names on the scoresheet to, say, Leeds on 12. Even if we manage to sign a quality striker, the chances of them being in the style and mold of GH must be pretty slim so KMK is going to have to work his tactical magic in the second half of the season. I can’t help but be optimistic though and I think in the coming months we will see more of the sublime football that we’ve enjoyed in the last year. That said, I feel like missing Davis is as damaging as Hirst’s absence - 9 assists this season and just a machine when he’s on form. If he’s match fit, I reckon we’ll edge Sunderland.

[arana peligrosa]

20 years back this could be an F.A Cup game. They beat us then and kind of worried we got a number of players out or unavailable, no league wins in 4, 5 games now to add to it, just as easily miss out on victory once more but sometimes you have to look to the positives and believe it can be done. McKenna should go with a more attacking line-up than the obligatory 4-2-3-1 and put more emphasis on attack. This may put more pressure on an already fragile defense but we need to be taking advantage of remaining home fixtures.

Picked a wrong time in the season to endure a sticky run. We have to get three points real quick to pick up momentum from before. Got a real good opportunity with this one, however number of factors holding the team back or reason why further points may be dropped. Voted to win

ITFC 2 SAFC 1

[Bluemike]

Feeling a bit tense about this next game but I have to keep reminding myself that we’re currently 2 spots below the premier League and not stuck in the tar pit that was league one!

I don’t have the technical understanding of the game that a lot of you clearly do but it seems to me that one of our strengths this season has been that our goals gave come from so many of our players - something like 19 different names on the scoresheet to, say, Leeds on 12. Even if we manage to sign a quality striker, the chances of them being in the style and mold of GH must be pretty slim so KMK is going to have to work his tactical magic in the second half of the season. I can’t help but be optimistic though and I think in the coming months we will see more of the sublime football that we’ve enjoyed in the last year. That said, I feel like missing Davis is as damaging as Hirst’s absence - 9 assists this season and just a machine when he’s on form. If he’s match fit, I reckon we’ll edge Sunderland.

Agree completely with that, Davis for me is a bigger miss than Hirst, I also think our consistency in team selection was a big factor in our early season success, Morsy/Luongo was a given and worked very effectively, that is sometimes broken up now. We switch the CB's occasionally now too which must have an effect, Broadhead and Harness have flip flopped of late.

Sometimes it's unavoidable but sometimes it isn't, if we rewind back to "that" game at Bristol Rovers which saw things come to a head it was the ridiculous rotation that Mckenna had been doing which was the cause of our issues, after that game he stopped it and the rest was history and while I don't believe we are in anything other than a great place I do believe we need to get back to a team selection consistency when at all possible.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

[hallamblue]

Great post QldBlue, and welcome to TB’s


I think we’ve hit our injuries/ illness at the busiest time in the season and it’s testing our squad depth to its limits. Who we can manage to bring in will see how deal with second half of the season. The “ damage” to date is the reduction of our points cushion from 3rd place, and as Mike alludes too, team selection stability ( and clever appropriate use of the squad), will be the thing that defines our season.

Finishing in the PO’s btw wouldnt be a disaster by any means , but psychologically it would “ feel” like a bit of failure given our 2nd spot most of the season ….. we’ll see what happens, but lots to play for as we enter the business end of the season.

[marko69]

You also an Ipswich City fan, QLDBlue?