Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Championship clash between Hull City and Ipswich Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
With both sides fighting for a spot in next season’s Premier League, Hull City will do battle with Ipswich Town at the MKM Stadium on Saturday night in the Championship.
The Tigers kept their top-six hopes alive with a dramatic victory over Coventry City on Wednesday, whilst the promotion-chasing Tractor Boys have been afforded a fortnight to dwell on a 1-1 draw versus Middlesbrough.
Match preview
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Hull City managed to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship to five matches as they travelled to the West Midlands on Wednesday night, when the playoff-chasing Tigers came out on top following a five-goal thriller with Coventry – a side who were still recovering from their FA Cup semi-final heartbreak four days earlier.
Liam Rosenior‘s men took the lead twice in the first half courtesy of Jaden Philogene and Liverpool loanee Fabio Carvalho before being pegged back by Kasey Palmer and Bobby Thomas efforts, but it was the visitors who had the last laugh, with substitute Noah Ohio firing home off the bench during the final 15 minutes.
The collection of 11 points from their last five Championship contests has allowed Hull to stay within striking distance of the playoffs as the campaign draws to a close, with Saturday’s hosts currently in seventh, three points behind both West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City in fifth and sixth respectively.
Although a number of shrewd additions in attacking areas during the January transfer window caught the eye, the Tigers have been highly dependent on the defensive qualities of Jacob Greaves this season, with the centre-back once again doing the dirty work for his side in the win at Coventry.
Hull’s most recent match at the MKM Stadium ended in their biggest victory of the calendar year so far on April 13, when strikes from Ozan Tufan, Philogene and Carvalho sealed a three-goal success over Marti Cifuentes‘s Queens Park Rangers.
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Due to Coventry’s involvement in the latter stages of this season’s FA Cup, Ipswich Town have enjoyed a two-week break in their hectic Championship campaign since the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at Portman Road, where the Tractor Boys have only been defeated once in the league so far.
That being said, Michael Carrick‘s Boro were seriously threatening to worsen Ipswich’s record at their East Anglia base when Emmanuel Latte Lath opened the scoring in the 20th minute, but the hosts soon restored parity in the contest courtesy of Massimo Luongo‘s third goal of the second-tier season.
Despite earning just two points from their last three Championship matches, inconsistency from the likes of Leeds United and Southampton has allowed Kieran McKenna‘s troops to stay in a good position to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League, with Ipswich one point off the top two – even though they have played game fewer than Daniel Farke‘s side.
Although the collection of 38 points from 21 outings is certainly not a poor return for a side who were plying their trade in League One last season, Ipswich are undoubtedly not as formidable on their travels compared to at Portman Road, with Saturday’s visitors losing at both Cardiff City and Norwich City in recent times.
Arguably unfortunate to be omitted from the Championship’s Team of the Year, attacking midfielder Conor Chaplin has netted 13 goals and provided seven assists in 42 second-tier appearances this term, with only Nathan Broadhead being able to match the 27-year-old in terms of goals for the Tractor Boys so far.
Hull City Championship form:
Ipswich Town Championship form:
Team News
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After proving a nuisance for the Coventry defence during his first start since New Year’s Day, Manchester City loanee Liam Delap is set to start up front for Hull once again.
There is a case for match-winning Ohio to be promoted from the bench, but it is likely that Carvalho, Abdulkadir Omur and Philogene will retain their spots in the XI.
The Tigers are expected to be without the services of Anass Zaroury, with the Burnley loanee suffering a groin injury earlier this month.
In a massive boost to Ipswich’s promotion hopes, both George Hirst and Wes Burns have trained this week following their respective hamstring injuries.
It is understood that the attacking pair are not ready to start a match, though, meaning that the likes of Kieffer Moore and Omari Hutchinson should be included in the XI.
Manchester United loanee Brandon Williams is still in the medical room due to a leg issue, so Axel Tuanzebe could continue on the right side of the visitors’ backline.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Slater, Jones, Greaves, Jacob; Omur, Morton, Seri, Philogene; Carvalho, Delap
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Hladky; Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Broadhead; Moore
We say: Hull City 2-1 Ipswich Town
Hull will be full of confidence following Wednesday’s win at Coventry, and we feel that the Tigers could catch Ipswich cold at the MKM Stadium on Saturday night.
The Tractor Boys are close to welcoming back a pair of key attackers, but we believe that the possible involvements of Hirst and Burns will not be enough for success.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.