Ipswich vs QPR Prediction: Can the Tractor Boys get back to winning ways?

Ipswich Town may have spent Christmas occupying second spot in the Championship but the festive period has not been as merry as they would have liked. They were battered 4-0 by rivals Leeds United last weekend and were lucky to come away from their home clash with league leaders Leicester City thanks to a Jannik Vestergaard own goal on Boxing Day.

The Tractor Boys fortunately remain in a strong position in second, with five points separating them from Southampton in third, but they will need to start getting back to winning ways if they are to pull off this incredible promotion bid. 

Kieran McKenna's side have an excellent opportunity to get back to winning ways when they take on bottom-three side Queens Park Rangers at Portman Road on Friday evening (19:45), who have lost their last three games on the bounce.

Match Odds

As you can imagine, Ipswich are the overwhelming favourites to win this match, so you won't get much value in backing them at 2/5. If you feel that QPR can spring more frustration onto the Tractor Boys this festive season, a draw can be backed at 10/3 while they are 11/2 to pull off a shocking victory.

Both teams to score is marketed at 5/6. Over 2.5 goals can be found at 8/13.

Team News

Ipswich are waiting to see the extent of the hamstring injury sustained by George Hirst which forced the attacker off in the first half against Leicester on Boxing Day. The other absentee for McKenna's side is Lee Evans, who has been out since September with a knee injury.

The visitors are hoping that defender Morgan Fox can return to training this week after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but Friday will be considered too soon for him to be involved on the pitch. Jack Colback continues to be assessed due to his muscular problem.

Ipswich to win to nil @ 13/10

We know this looks like a bold selection given Ipswich have conceded five goals in their last two matches but McKenna is such a driven manager and he will have been furious with the goals his side conceded against Leeds in particular.

Given that there have been short turnarounds for the festive fixtures, he has had little time to correct the mistakes on the training pitch but his side did look more organised against the Foxes on Boxing Day.

With that in mind, we are expecting the Tractor Boys to be a much more resolute outfit on home soil when league strugglers QPR come to town. The R's have lost three on the spin and have failed to find the back of the net in their last two so their confidence will be very low heading into Friday.

Ipswich will have been lifted by being able to salvage a point against Leicester at the death last time out, but they know that they will need to put more points on the board if they are to challenge them for the title and secure their top-two status.

McKenna's men should have far too much quality for their London opponents and win this one comfortably.

Nathan Broadhead to score anytime @ 8/5

One of the best things about McKenna's Ipswich side is how fluid they are when they attack. Their front four of Nathan Broadhead, Hirst, Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns has been enjoyable to watch this term with their slick attacking football.

They have each scored a number of goals between them in the league to help propel the Tractor Boys to their current position. And against QPR, each of them will sense an opportunity to add to their tallies.

On this occasion, we fancy Broadhead to get on the scoresheet in particular, largely because he gets himself into great goalscoring positions. He can certainly punish lapses in concentration from QPR, and after blanking in his last two outings, we feel he is due a goal and Friday night is the perfect time to get it.

Broadhead has eight goals in the league so far (level with Chaplin) and no Ipswich player has scored more. We sense that he will grab his ninth of the campaign against the Hoops at Portman Road this weekend.