David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Ipswich
Brentford
One of the fixtures of the 36th round of the English Championship will take place on Saturday at Portman Road, where local side Ipswich will host Brentford. I suggest a bet on the total goals in this encounter, with strong odds for success.
Match preview
After a single season in the Premier League, Ipswich are heading back to the Championship — they couldn't manage to stay at the top level. Despite relegation, Kieran McKenna’s men aren’t giving up and continue to battle for points, showing grit and fighting spirit on the pitch. Even in matches where there's nothing left to play for, the team refuses to simply go through the motions.
In the last round, the Tractor Boys showed real determination, drawing away at Everton (2-2). Ipswich were two goals down during the match, but rallied to claw their way back, underlining their resilience. However, their winless run in the Premier League has now stretched to five games: two draws and three defeats. Over their last 16 matches, they've registered just one win, drawn four times, and suffered 11 losses.
The London side is showing confident form in the Premier League, going unbeaten in five consecutive matches. Thomas Frank’s team kicked off this streak with draws against tough opponents — Chelsea (0-0) and Arsenal (1-1). Then Brentford shifted gears, claiming three straight wins: first, a convincing 4-2 triumph over Brighton, then a comfortable 2-0 victory against Nottingham Forest, and finally, an entertaining 4-3 win against Manchester United.
The clash with the Red Devils was particularly dramatic: leading comfortably at 4-1, the Londoners conceded twice late on but managed to hold on for the victory. That success lifted them to ninth in the table, but they still trail the European spots by eight points. Notably, Brentford are unbeaten in nine of their last eleven Premier League outings, notching up six wins and three draws.
Probable lineups
- Ipswich: Alex Palmer – Dara O’Shea, Cameron Burgess, Luke Woolfenden, Jacob Greaves – Jack Taylor, Sam Morsy – Conor Chaplin, Omari Hutchinson, Julio Enciso – Liam Delap
- Brentford: Mark Flekken – Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Keane Lewis-Potter, Sepp van den Berg – Christian Nørgaard, Yegor Yarmolyuk – Kevin Schade, Mikkel Damsgaard, Bryan Mbeumo – Yoane Wissa
Match facts & head-to-head
- In the first round, Brentford defeated Ipswich 4-3
- The “Over 2.5 goals” bet landed in just one of the last five matches
- The “Both teams to score” bet came through in two of the last five meetings
Prediction
Bookmakers are giving the edge to the visitors in this one, rating a Brentford win at 1.68. We believe goals will be on the cards here, just as in their first clash of the season. The Tractor Boys have found the net in 10 of their last 13 Premier League matches. Our pick for this match: “Over 3.0 goals” at odds of 1.82.
