Ipswich Town vs Everton

Match Preview

With the penultimate international break of the year out of the way, Everton are back in action this weekend as they travel to Portman Road for the first time in 23 years to take on Ipswich Town.

Though Sean Dyche and his men will be hoping to pull away from the lower reaches of the Premier league table in the coming weeks, as things stand this is another early season six-pointer against a side that has managed four draws since returning to the top flight, but has yet to register a league victory.

The Blues were no doubt hoping to welcome Jarrad Branthwaite back to the fold for this one, but it looks as though it will come perhaps a week too soon for the defender Dyche’s comments in his pre-match press conference at Finch Farm today.

Branthwaite returned to full training this week, but it seems as though he might not be risked given that his previous comeback from surgery resulted in an almost immediate setback with a minor quad injury.

There was more encouraging news from Dyche where Vitalii Mykolenko is concerned and he looks set to be passed fit to face the Tractor Boys.

Seamus Coleman is also in contention for a return which will come as a huge boost given that Nathan Patterson is still being managed on a patient rehabilitation and match fitness program aimed at getting him completely ready for a return to senior action.

In midfield, however, two fresh injury problems have reared their heads. James Garner, who filled in so ably at right back against Newcastle last time out has suffered a recurrence of the back injury that hampered him in late 2022 and Tim Iroegbunam has a stress fracture in his foot that looks like likely to sideline him for a number of weeks.

Thankfully, Dyche still has options in that part of the field with Orel Mangala and Idrissa Gueye both available to compete for a spot with Abdoulaye Doucouré.

in terms of the forward areas, Iliman Ndiaye and looks to have shaken off the knock that forced him off in Senegal’s first Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi over the break.

He came on as a second substitute in the return fixture against the Southern Africans and looks set to be available for Everton on Saturday .

Ipswich won many admirers last season as they gained promotion from the championship, playing an expansive and possession-based style under Kieran McKenna.

The Northern Irishman has not wavered from those principles now that he is managing his team in the Premier League, but it remains to be seen if he has the quality to keep the East Anglian club up this season.

In Liam Delap, he has a potent marksman who is already turned heads with his goal return so far, and he will be the chief danger man that Everton will need to contain if they want to come away with a victory this weekend.

In a similar fashion to Burnley last season and Southampton this season, Ipswich are committed to a passing game that starts with playing the ball out from the back, which is a tactic that Everton can look to exploit with their pressing game and hopefully cause problems early on that might yield an early goal, just as it did against the Clarets last season and what was Everton’s last away win since last December.

Certainly, having dropped so many points already this season and not won away from Goodison Park for so long, this really is a game that Everton should be doing everything they can to win.

It promises to be a tricky assignment, however, against a newly-promoted side in front of their own fans who will feel that the fragile Blues are there to be got at themselves.

Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 19 October, 2024
Referee: Michael Oliver
VAR: Graham Scott
Last Time: Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Everton (October 2001)

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Mangala, Doucouré, Harrison, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin

 

---

---

Reader Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()

There are no responses so far to this article. Be the first to offer a comment using the form below.

---

How to get rid of these ads and support TW