Match Preview | Ipswich Town v Argyle
The sides that sit first and third in the Sky Bet League One table meet on Saturday, as Argyle head to Portman Road to meet Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys have 50 points from their 25 games, leaving them seven behind Argyle, having played a game fewer. Like Argyle, and indeed Sheffield Wednesday, who sit second, Ipswich have lost three games this season, with just one of them being on their own patch. This came at the hands of Lincoln City.
Town's defeats away from home have been at Wycombe Wanderers and, in late September, Argyle. Ipswich were top of the division and unbeaten when they came to Home Park, but both of those honours were taken from them in a pulsating game which was screened live on Sky Sports. Argyle won the game 2-1, with Bali Mumba and Morgan Whittaker scoring in the second half after former Pilgrim Freddie Ladapo had put Ipswich in front before the break.
Ladapo scored 19 times in 49 games for Argyle during the 2018/19 season, after which he departed for Rotherham United. He has 11 goals this season for Ipswich, seven of which have been scored in the league. He is a couple of goals behind top goalscorer Conor Chaplin, whose ten league goals have been complimented by three in cup competitions. Chaplin is a former Portsmouth, Coventry City and Barnsley.
Since the transfer window opened, Ipswich have added three players. Forward Nathan Broadhead, who spent the first portion of the season on loan at Wigan Athletic, has joined on a permanent basis from Everton; Australian international midfielder Massimo Luongo, who had a loan spell at Portman Road in 2012, has signed following his release from Middlesbrough; and George Hirst, son of former Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst, has come in on loan from Leicester City.
Ipswich are managed by Kieran McKenna, who took over the job in December 2021, at a very similar time that Steven Schumacher became Argyle boss. Prior to taking the Ipswich job McKenna, now 36, rose through the coaching ranks at Manchester United to become the Red Devils' assistant manager.
Schumacher Says
"Ipswich are one of the most dangerous teams in the division. They've got so many good players. Defensively they're organised and solid as well as you would expect.
"I don't think they'll change too much about what they do. They've got a clear style and identity of how they like to play and how they’d like to pass the ball. We'll have to figure out a way of trying to stop that. I don't think it'll be too dissimilar to what we've seen early on in the season."
Team News
Finn Azaz is likely to return to the Argyle squad this weekend, according to Schumacher, after 11 weeks out injured. Schumacher has 21 fit pros to choose his squad from. Captain Joe Edwards misses out, though. He is suspended because of his red card last Saturday at Bolton Wanderers.
Tickets
The Green Army have snapped up the entire allocation of tickets for Saturday's Sky Bet League One clash with promotion rivals Ipswich Town at Portman Road. Over 2,100 supporters will make the pilgrimage to Suffolk for the game.
Tickets will be available for collection from the Home Park Ticket Office until 3pm on Thursday, 12 January. After this any tickets not collected will be available at Ipswich on the day of the game from the Away Ticket Office, next to the away turnstile from 1.30pm.
If you were expecting tickets to arrive in the post and they have not please either call us on 01752 907700 or email tickets@pafc.co.uk by 3pm on Friday, 13 January, so that we can arrange duplicates for collection on the day. This will also be from the Away Ticket Office.
A Strip for the Trip
Argyle will be wearing their away kit for this game.
Argyle TV
The game will be covered on Argyle TV, with commentary from Charlie Price and Brian McGlinchey. Both will be on hand for a pre-match show which will be available for free on YouTube from 2pm.
Audio commentary of the game is available for £2.50 in the UK, and live video streaming is available for overseas supporters.
