Ipswich vs Hull Prediction: Can Tigers land seismic blow?

Ipswich Town will play one of their crucial games in hand tonight, as they welcome Hull City to Portman Road (19:45 GMT, Sky Sports+) in a huge clash near the top of the Championship.

Read on for my Ipswich vs Hull predictions, featuring team news and match odds.

Team News

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna loves to rotate when engaged midweek, but the performance in the 3-0 win over Swansea may tempt him to name an unchanged XI. Anis Mehmeti moved to the left wing with key cog Marcelino Nunez in the number 10 position.

Ivan Azon looks to be the starting striker ahead of George Hirst. but that could change. Kasey McAteer or Sindre Walle Egeli will hope for a start ahead of Wes Burns on the right wing, with Jadon Philogene still sidelined through injury.

Football Odds

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic saw his side win 1-0 at Porstmouth last time out, with substitute Matt Crooks getting the winner off the bench. I think an unchanged team is most likely here for Hull however, with Joe Gelhardt and Oli McBurnie doing well as an attacking duo.

The Tigers are launching this promotion push despite a pretty hefty injury list which includes Mohamed Belloumi, Ryan Giles, Semi Ajayi and Yu Hirakawa, among others.

Today's Football Fixtures

Ipswich vs Hull Odds

Ipswich are priced at 1/2 to win this game, giving them an implied win probability of 75%, while Hull are the big 5/1 underdogs. A draw is 10/3, over 2.5 goals is 4/6 and BTTS is 5/6.

Hirst is the favourite to score first at 4/1, while Mehmeti has been boosted to 11/2 to find the net first.

Hull +2 handicap @ 4/7

I think any result is possible here, but I do think that Hull are overpriced heading into this game. It’s going to be a big ask for them to get something, but given what we’ve seen from them this term, they have defied all statistics and find themselves in fifth in the Championship table.

Ipswich have won three out of their last four and look to be building some momentum in their title charge, but they’ve got work to do to make up the ground on both Middlesbrough and Coventry. The Tigers have won back-to-back matches and are so tough to beat with their physicality - McBurnie is key to that up top.

They can go direct to him and although Ipswich could win this game, I will back Hull with a -2 handicap, which means even a one-goal defeat will make this a winning pick.

Oli McBurnie to score anytime @ 11/4

There are 10 Ipswich players that are shorter to score first than McBurnie - so I’m doubling down on the Tigers and backing their top scorer to find the net at any time, at a very good price.

Ipswich may boast one of the strongest squads in the league and they’ve kept back-to-back clean sheets, but they aren’t completely solid.

Wrexham recently beat them 5-3 and I think Hull’s efficiency in front of goal could pay off, given they have overperformed their xG all season - and we are now 35 games in - so it’s not a fluke.

McBurnie is the third top scorer in the league with 13 to his name, and the Golden Boot is within his reach if he kicks on. 

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