Manchester City vs Ipswich Prediction: Tractor Boys can find the net
Ipswich Town’s start to life in the Premier League is as difficult as it could possibly be. Having put in a decent showing in their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on the opening weekend, now they travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on the champions, Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
Below you can find my Manchester City vs Ipswich prediction, featuring team news and betting tips.
Team News
Rico Lewis is in line to keep his place at right-back after impressing in the win over Chelsea, while fellow Englishman Phil Foden is also expected to break into the XI. Kyle Walker, John Stones and Nathan Ake were all named on the bench in that opener after their summer exploits, but after such a positive defensive showing, Pep Guardiola is likely to stick with the back four that kept Chelsea out.
Meanwhile, Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna has been loyal to his players over the past two years, but he could choose to shake things up by bringing Sammie Szmodics into the mix. Kalvin Phillips cannot play against his parent club but Ben Johnson may be given a start if McKenna tries to go more defensive at the Etihad.
Manchester City vs Ipswich Odds
Manchester City are priced at just 9/100 to win this game, with Ipswich the rank outsiders at 22/1. A draw can be backed at 10/1, over 2.5 goals is 3/10 and BTTS is 38/29.
BTTS Yes @ 38/29
There’s absolutely no value in backing Manchester City to win this game at odds of 9/100, so I’ve taken a slightly different approach. Although Ipswich failed to score against Liverpool last time out, they are a side that loves to play on the front foot and has plenty of attacking ability.
They top-scored in the Championship last term, with 92 goals across 46 matches, averaging two a game. They’ve now added the Championship’s top scorer in Szmidocs, while Liam Delap, Conor Chaplin and Omari Hutchinson are all capable of scoring goals. I don’t think Ipswich will be able to get anything out of this match, and Man City should come away with the points, but I also believe the value lies in backing both teams to score given Ipswich’s attacking quality.
Ipswich to score first goal @ 23/5
I believe Ipswich can score at some point, while I also think they will come out firing. Man City may be a little complacent heading into this game, and they also conceded in each of their last four home league matches of the last campaign. It gives me further reason to believe that Ipswich can get on the scoresheet at some point, and the odds for them to score first are massive.
They don’t need to win, or even draw, they just need to open the scoring at the Etihad. I don’t think this will be as straightforward as the odds suggest for Man City, so am happy to back Ipswich to score the first goal on this occasion.
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