Ipswich Town (A) | Match Preview
The Game
Ipswich Town v Argyle. Portman Road. Saturday, 28 October. 3pm. Sky Bet Championship.
The Opposition
Ipswich have had an amazing start to the league season. They began with three straight wins - against Sunderland, Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers - before losing a thriller against Leeds United, going down 4-3 at home. Town followed up with four more victories, beating Cardiff City, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Blackburn Rovers, the last of which was a 4-3 in Ipswich's favour.
Huddersfield Town became only the second team to take something against the Tractor Boys, drawing 1-1 at home, but Ipswich bounced back again with consecutive victories over Hull City, Preston North End and, most recently, Bristol City.
This leaves Ipswich with 31 points from 12 games, in second place behind Leicester City.
The Gaffer
Kieran McKenna was in the youth ranks at Tottenham Hotspur and represented Northern Ireland Under-21s, but his career was ended by injury at the age of 22. Concentrating on coaching, McKenna rose through the coaching ranks at Spurs, becoming Under-18s manager.
He left to take the same job at Manchester United, and would in time be promoted to the first-team coaching staff, eventually becoming assistant manager to Jose Mourinho. He served as a coach under several United bosses, before accepting his first managerial job, with Ipswich, in December 2021, with Ipswich.
He steered his new team to 11th by season's end, then to automatic promotion last season.
The Squad
Nathan Broadhead has six goals to his name this season, and is Ipswich's top goalscorer. The former Everton man, who had loan spells with Burton Albion, Sunderland and Wigan Athletic, signed for Ipswich in January 2023. The 25-year-old striker now has seven caps to Wales for his name.
On Broadhead's tail on the goalscoring front is Conor Chaplin, who has five league goals. Chaplin spent many years at Portsmouth, for whom he played over 100 times, but mostly as a substitute. He moved to Coventry City, then to Barnsley, before heading to Ipswich in the summer of 2021. He now has 45 goals in 113 games for Town.
Former Pilgrims Christian Walton and Freddie Ladapo are both in the Ipswich squad, but Walton is yet to appear this season because of a heel injury, while Ladapo has started just once in the league. That said, he has seven sub appearances, scoring twice, and has two goals in the Carabao Cup, too.
Fancy a Stat?
Ipswich's record at home this season reads: Played 6, won 5, lost 1, scored 19, conceded 11.
The History
The two sides have met 52 times in history. Argyle have won 13, there have been 16 draws, while Ipswich have won 23. Last season, Argyle won 2-1 at home, with goals from Bali Mumba and Morgan Whittaker. Mumba scored a late equalised when the sides met at Portman Road, later that season, drawing 1-1.
A Strip for the Trip
Argyle will be wearing their pink third kit for this game.
Away Fans Guide
You can read our Away Fans Guide for the game, here.
Argyle TV
Argyle TV’s pre-match show, with Charlie Price and Ian Stonebridge, will begin at 2pm, and is available to watch for free on YouTube. Commentary will be provided from Portman Road by Harry Salvidge and Karl Duguid. International supporters can buy a match pass to watch the game, here.
