Relegation battlers Ipswich Town head to the English capital to take on Fulham on Sunday afternoon, and we’ve got the latest team news and predicted lineups, as well as a prediction alongside our preview.
Fulham vs Ipswich Preview
Unbeaten in seven successive Premier League matches since the start of December, Fulham welcome relegation battlers Ipswich Town to Craven Cottage in Gameweek 20 on Sunday afternoon.
The Cottagers’ most recent outing, last Sunday, ended in a 2-2 stalemate with Bournemouth despite Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson giving the West Londoners the lead on two separate occasions. Draws with Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Southampton, as well as victories over Brighton and Chelsea make up the remainder of their unbeaten run.
Marco Silva’s side find themselves in eighth place in the English top-flight table heading into the weekend’s action, just six points shy of the top four, while they are ahead of the likes of Aston Villa, Brighton, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Their opponents at the weekend, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone in 18th place despite recording a monumental 2-0 win over high-flying Chelsea at Portman Road in their last league fixture.
Goals from Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson inspired the Tractor Boys to their first home league victory of the campaign, lifting them above relegation rivals Leicester City and moving them within a point of safety.
Ipswich meet Fulham for the second time this term, with the reverse fixture in Suffolk ending in a 1-1 draw back in August. Prior to that, the Cottagers had won six consecutive competitive matches against the Tractor Boys.
Fulham Team News
The hosts remain without injured trio Kenny Tete (knee), Reiss Nelson (thigh) and Sander Berge (ankle) for Ipswich’s visit, while Harrison Reed is a doubt, having missed the last seven weeks with a knee injury.
Wales international winger Wilson, who has scored in two successive matches, is likely to retain his spot in the starting lineup, with Jimenez, Alexander Iwobi, Sasa Lukic and Andreas Pereira also expected to start in midfield and attack.
Their back line could also go unchanged, with all of Timothy Castagne, Issa Diop, Calvin Bassey, Joachim Andersen and star left-back Antonee Robinson starting in each of Fulham’s last two league matches.
Ipswich Team News
As for the visitors, they are without long-term absentees Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles) and Axel Tuanzebe (thigh), while George Hirst (knee) and Conor Chaplin (knock) are also ruled out, and Massimo Luongo (illness) is a doubt.
After an impressive cameo off the bench against Arsenal last week, Kieran McKenna opted to hand Nathan Broadhead his first league start of the campaign against Chelsea, and the Welshman didn’t disappoint. Whether he retains his position in the lineup remains to be seen, but if he does so, Sammie Szmodics could remain confined to the bench.
Top scorer Delap will undoubtedly lead the line, with Hutchinson also likely to retain his starting berth, while an unchanged back five of Wes Burns, Dara O’Shea, Luke Woolfenden, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis may also be fielded.
Fulham vs Ipswich Predicted Lineups
Fulham Predicted Lineup:
Leno; Diop, Andersen, Bassey; Castagne, Lukic, Pereira, Robinson; Wilson, Jimenez, Iwobi
Ipswich Predicted Lineup:
Walton; Burns, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis; Hutchinson, Morsy, Cajuste, Broadhead; Delap
Fulham vs Ipswich Prediction
The UK’s best football betting sites heavily favour Fulham to prevail against Ipswich on Sunday afternoon, and we at SportsCasting agree, as we’re backing the Cottagers to claim a narrow 2-1 victory.
Fulham boast a strong record against the Tractor Boys in recent years, going unbeaten in each of their last eight meetings across all competitions, with Ipswich suffering defeats in each of their last two visits to Craven Cottage.
As well, the Cottagers are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten run in the top-flight, their longest unbeaten run in the competition since 2008, and we simply cannot see this record coming to an end this weekend.
Prediction: Fulham 2-1 Ipswich
