Football
EPL Wolverhampton vs Ipswich Town Preview Tips, Odds, and Prediction
With excitement building and anticipation growing ahead of kickoff, Premier League betting fans are already diving into the odds and assessing both teams, hoping to find the best value. For a detailed, in-depth look at the match, be sure to check out our full preview.
Leo Bonatini, Jordan Spence and Luke Chambers//Getty Images
With excitement building and anticipation growing ahead of kickoff, Premier League betting fans are already diving into the odds and assessing both teams, hoping to find the best value. For a detailed, in-depth look at the match, be sure to check out our full preview.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolverhampton Wanderers welcomes Kieran McKenna’s newly promoted Ipswich Town to the Molineux in the countdown to Christmas.
Over their last 12 meetings, they have won three apiece, with six draws, so these sides are very closely matched through history.
Despite possessing the home advantage, Wolverhampton haven’t kept a clean sheet all season, so expect goals in this early relegation dogfight.
At the time of writing, they are both sat in the relegation zone, with nine points each, so whoever can claim the available three points, it will be worth double in such a crucial clash as this.
Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability: Wolverhampton Clear Favourites
Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability: Wolves Strong Favourites
Home: 17/20 (1.85) – 54,1%
Draw: 57/20 (3.85) – 26%
Away: 3/1 (4.00) – 25%
Odds courtesy of Betway, subject to change
Head-to-Head Record
Last Five Meetings
26/09/23: Ipswich 3-2 Wolverhampton
27/01/18: Ipswich 0-1 Wolverhampton
23/12/17: Wolverhampton 0-1 Ipswich
07/03/17: Ipswich 0-0 Wolverhampton
16/08/16: Wolverhampton 0-0 Ipswich
Wolves: Current Form – LLWWDD
At the time of writing, Wolverhampton have worryingly conceded four goals in each of their last two matches – home and away. As such, they have a minus-14 goal difference.
However, they are joint seventh top scorers in the league with 22 goals for, shared with Aston Villa and Brighton, who are in seventh and fifth in the table, respectively. Only Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs, and Brentford have scored more – all top 10 teams.
But despite this high goalscoring record, they seem to let in around a third more than they score. They let in six goals against Chelsea this season, five to Brentford, then four to Bournemouth and Everton, most recently.
Key Players To Watch
- Matheus Cunha – 25-year-old Brazilian forward Cunha has scored seven goals already this season, which puts him on track to bag a possible 20 goals for his club this season. Due to is recent performances, he was among the nominations for November Player of the Month.
- Jorgen Strand Larsen – Norwegian national Larsen is on loan from Celta Vigo and has proven to be a great bit of business with six goals in 13 matches so far.
- Rayan Ait-Nouri – Left-sided Ait-Nouri, 23 from France, has been a positive attacking player for Wolves with three goals so far this season.
Wolves Team News
Manager Gary O’Neil is under close scrutiny of the fans, who have been calling for his head recently for letting in the most goals in the league this season. However, O’Neil has stated that he has a job to do and believes his players have the courage and the fight to turn their season around.
The club’s defensive concerns could be answered by the return of summer signings Pedro Lima and Bastien Meupiyou, as well as Bouba Traore, as they make their way back from injury.
Wolves are looking to add a centre-back in the January transfer window.
In losing 4-2 to Bournemouth on November 30, opposing player Justin Kluivert became the first player in history to score a hat-trick of penalties in a Premier League match.
Ipswich Town: Current Form – LLDWDL
At the time of writing, Ipswich have only won one in their last six fixtures and conceded in each one. However, aside from their seven-goal thriller with Brentford in October, they have only conceded one goal per game, so they are tight at the back.
Man United, Spurs and Leicester were all only able to score once against The Tractor Boys. Despite this, they are in the bottom three teams for goals, along with Crystal Palace and Southampton. Just 13 goals in 14 games is a dire stat, and 25 against puts their goal difference at minus-12, which is, again, among the worst three in the league.
After finishing second in the Championship to gain automatic promotion last season, they are lacking the creative quality required in the highest flight.
Key Players To Watch
- Liam Delap – The 21-year-old striker has scored six with one assist, so is one of the club’s best attacking options. Having played in every England youth team from under-16 to under-21, making over 30 appearances, there’s a strong chance he will break into the England first team very soon.
- Kalvin Phillips – On loan from Manchester City, 29-year midfielder Phillips is an experienced player with over 30 caps for England, and will be invaluable in what’s set to be an incredibly competitive season for the Suffolk side.
- Sam Morsy – Club captain Sam Morsy has played in over 100 games for The Tractors and is known as the team’s enforcer in the middle of the park, due to his ability to tackle and break up play.
Ipswich Team News
Left-back Leif Davis has been nominated for November Premier League Goal of the Month for his stunning strike against Leicester City on November 2, assisted by his captain.
Skipper Sam Morsy hit headlines recently for his refusal to wear the rainbow armband in their match against Nottingham Forest on November 30. He was the only captain in the EPL to take this stance, but the club have fully backed his decision.
Predicted Line-Ups
Wolverhampton: 4-2-3-1: Sa; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Andre, Gomes; Bellegarde, Cunha, Gomes; Strand Larsen.
Ipswich: 4-2-3-1: Muric; Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Cajuste; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodic; Delap.
Suggested Bets
If you love betting on football, here are some bets you can place at some of the popular sportsbooks.
Both Teams to Score: Looking over their history and recent games, both teams are almost guaranteed to score goals against each other. (17/25 with Betway) (17/25 with 1Win)
Correct Score: The odds for a 3-2 home win looks attractive, which is the same scoreline from when they last played each other. (25/1 with Betway) (237/10 with 1Win)
Over 4.5 Goals: With the home team conceding so many, but also scoring plenty too, this fixture could see a lot of goals go in. (4/1 with Betway) (63/20 with 1Win)
Value Bets
Matheus Cunha – Anytime Goalscorer: As Wolverhampton’s current top scorer, with seven goals in 114 games, Cunha to score anytime in the match is worth a punt. (2/1 with 1Win)
Liam Delap– Anytime Goalscorer: As Ipswich Town’s top scorer, Delap could well come up with a goal in this fixture. (2/1 with 1Win)
First Team to Score– Ipswich: The odds of the visitors netting first is very possible against a team that’s conceded so many already. (36/25 with Betway) (161/100 with 1Win)
Prediction: Wolves to Win
You could imagine both teams will be treating this fixture like a cup final. In a league as unforgiven and arduous as the Premiership, points are very hard to come by, so each of these sides will be viewing this game as a chance to get some vital points in the bag, which could prove pivotal towards the end of the season.
When you are relegation candidates, who have to beat the teams around you to climb above and push them down. However, with these sides so closely matched, this game could very likely end in a draw, like 80% of their last five fixtures have.
Boasting the home advantage should give Wolverhampton a big boost, but they haven’t kept a clean sheet all season, so are almost guaranteed to drop a goal in this festive fixture.
Ipswich have an average of scoring 1.1 goals away from home, but have conceded an average of 2.1.
Over their most recent meetings, there has never been more daylight than a single goal between them, so we are predicting a 2-1 win to the hosts, Wolverhampton.
Tim has over 27 years experience within the sports industry, working for football clubs Arsenal FC and Millwall FC, and boxing news websites British Boxing News, Boxing Social and Global Boxing News. His boxing articles have been published in Boxing News Magazine, national newspapers, plus many other major news outlets.