Ipswich vs Millwall Prediction: Tractor Boys to plough past travelling Lions

A 2-0 defeat to West Brom on the weekend put an end to Ipswich’s 12-game unbeaten league run, but the Tractor Boys have an early opportunity to right the wrongs of Saturday as they host Millwall at Portman Road on Wednesday (20:00).

Millwall also lost their last game, though that was a more familiar feeling for the 18th-placed club, who are 19 points behind their next opponents.

Team News

The Ipswich starting XI will make for interesting reading on Wednesday, as Kieran McKenna must decide whether Saturday was a one-off or that complacency has started to creep into his side, as they have only won one of their last four now.

Massimo Luongo, Harrison Clarke and Marcus Harness are among those who could come into contention if McKenna decides to switch things up, while on-loan Chelsea midfielder Omari Hutchinson could return after missing the trip to The Hawthorns through illness.

There are doubts over Millwall defender Dan McNamara after the 24-year-old missed the weekend defeat to Coventry with a knee complaint, while that 3-0 reverse could see manager Joe Edwards – appointed earlier this month – make several changes to his starting XI. Duncan Watmore and Kevin Nisbet will be in with a shout of making the team if Edwards does.

Match Odds

Unsurprisingly, given the gulf between these sides this season, Ipswich are fancied at 4/7 to win on Wednesday, with a Millwall win priced at 9/2. The draw can be found at 16/5.

Both teams to score is 8/11 and it’s 4/6 for over 2.5 goals.

Ipswich to win and over 2.5 goals @ 5/4

The Tractor Boys are the Championship’s top scorers with 36 goals and six of their last eight league games have produced three or more goals. They’ve kept their fans entertained at home, with all but one of their matches at Portman Road seeing over 2.5 goals.

Seven wins out of eight at home marks Ipswich as the most difficult place to visit in the second-tier, with only promotion rivals Leeds United able to prevent them winning.

Millwall do possess a strong record away from home after taking 13 points from eight games on their travels, losing just once. That defeat, though, did come in East Anglia, when Ipswich’s bitter rivals Norwich City beat them 3-1.

Even without that strange quirk, Ipswich should be confident of returning to winning ways here, and after their opponents were thumped 3-0 at home by Coventry on Saturday, their attack will be smelling goals. McKenna’s side haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last six, though, so the Lions should be confident of scoring themselves.

Ipswich to score in both halves @ 13/10

As mentioned earlier, Ipswich have given their supporters a lot to shout about at Portman Road this season. Remarkably, they’ve scored in both halves in seven of their nine league games at home, as well as in cup games against Bristol Rovers and Wolves.

Millwall have conceded in both halves in three of their last five games, including their defeat to Coventry last time out, so the last team they want to face is Ipswich.

The home side have shown their ability to attack from the off and sustain it late into games, and I expect them to be as motivated as ever on Wednesday night.

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