Ipswich Town vs Leicester City Prediction: Tractor Boys to triumph on 10th try

It's certainly been no fairytale start to life back in the top flight for Ipswich Town, who are winless and have just four points from their first nine Premier League games. Fellow newly-promoted side Leicester City, meanwhile, are on nine points having won twice in October.

Read my Ipswich Town vs Leicester City prediction below ahead of the two teams battling it out at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon (15:00).

Team News

Ipswich winger Chiedozie Ogbene is set for a spell on the sidelines after being forced off with an Achilles injury in Town's 4-3 defeat at Brentford last weekend. The 27-year-old joins Jacob Greaves, Axel Tuanzebe Massimo Luongo, Jack Taylor, Ben Johnson and Sam Morsy in the treatment room.

Omari Hutchinson missed the trip to west London through illness and could return this weekend but Harry Clarke, who endured a nightmare Premier League debut at the Gtech Community Stadium, is suspended following his red card against the Bees. As a result, Dara O'Shea could shift across to right-back, with Luke Woolfenden coming in at centre-back to partner Cameron Burgess.

Wes Burns came on for Ogbene last Saturday and is in contention to start at Portman Road, as is top goalscorer Liam Delap, who struck Town's third and final goal against Brentford.

Football Odds

Leicester are still nursing Patson Daka, Hamza Choudhury, Jakub Stolarczyk and Victor Kristiansen through their injuries, with the quartet all unavailable for selection this weekend.

Foxes head coach Steve Cooper made nine changes from the team that started the East Midlands derby defeat to Nottingham Forest for Wednesday's Carabao Cup tie at Manchester United. Only James Justin and Caleb Okoli kept their spots in the starting XI for the 5-2 hammering at Old Trafford, but we can expect to see the likes of Mats Hermansen, Wout Faes, Wilfred Ndidi, Facundo Buonanotte and Jamie Vardy return at Portman Road.

Ipswich Town vs Leicester City Odds

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Ipswich are 13/10, or a 43.5% chance, to claim their first league success of the season on Saturday, while Leicester are 21/10 (32.3%) to return to winning ways.

The draw is priced at 5/2 and over 2.5 total goals at 4/6.

Ipswich striker Delap is 9/5 favourite to score anytime, followed by teammate Sammie Szmodics and Foxes forward Vardy (both 2/1).

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Ipswich Town & Yes @ 11/4

If not Saturday, then when for Ipswich? The Tractor Boys are winless in their first nine Premier League games and have lost their last three, piling the pressure on Kieran McKenna ahead of Leicester's visit.

At the start of the season, this match would've been earmarked as one that Town have to be taking all three points in. Like Ipswich, Leicester gained promotion from the EFL Championship last season, finishing just a point ahead of McKenna's men to clinch the title.

However, the Foxes failed to beat their closest challengers home or away, both games finishing in a 1-1 draw, and the East Midlands club subsequently saw their head coach, Enzo Maresca, and best player, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, depart for Chelsea.

Expectations were adjusted accordingly, with many neutrals - and probably even Leicester supporters themselves - predicting them to go straight back down.

However, under the tutelage of Cooper, the Foxes have made a real go of it so far back in the top flight, beating AFC Bournemouth and Southampton back-to-back before losing the East Midlands derby to Nottingham Forest last time out in the league.

That victory at Southampton, when they came from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2 in second-half stoppage-time, is likely to give Leicester a great deal of confidence heading into an away day at another newly-promoted side.

Ipswich dropped a two-goal lead of their own at Brentford last week and Leicester will look to prey on any vulnerabilities present.

Certainly, I'm expecting Leicester to get on the scoresheet on Saturday with Ipswich keeping just one clean sheet so far - in a goalless draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on September 14. The Tractor Boys have also shipped 20 Premier League goals - only Wolverhampton Wanderers (25) have conceded more.

McKenna's charges have scored in six of their nine league games, though, including away to Manchester City, and should be buoyed by hitting three at Brentford last weekend, even if they came away from west London pointless.

Both teams to score has landed in 67 per cent (six) of their top-flight matches this term, while 89 per cent (eight) of Leicester's have seen at least a goal on either side.

BTTS - Yes is only 4/7, though, so I'm adding in an Ipswich win to up the odds. My reasoning for this is that Ipswich have to win a game sooner or later, and this contest presents the ideal opportunity for them to pick up all three points.

Leicester have surpassed my expectations thus far and deserve enormous credit for how they've started the season, but their only victory on the road was that dramatic, late success at Southampton when they were 2-0 down until the 64th minute, and they were helped enormously by Ryan Fraser conceding a penalty and being sent off.

Away to Crystal Palace, meanwhile, they let slip a two-goal lead themselves to draw 2-2.

Ipswich's first and fourth home games of the season were against Merseyside clubs, Liverpool and Everton, who both beat the Tractor Boys 2-0 at Portman Road. However, between those two defeats were valiant draws with Fulham (1-1) and Aston Villa (2-2), and McKenna should take confidence from those results.

I think 10 is the lucky number for Ipswich this weekend as they seek a first Premier League triumph this term.

First Goalscorer - Liam Delap (IPS) @ 11/2

Delap has taken to life in the Premier League like a duck to water, netting five times in his first nine appearances this season. He was only named as a substitute at Brentford last weekend but came off the bench in the 73rd minute and scored 13 minutes later before crashing an effort off the crossbar in the eighth minute of added time.

The 21-year-old will surely be restored to the starting XI on Saturday, and that spells danger for the Foxes.

Three of Delap's strikes have come at Portman Road, with the first being the opening goal of the game in August's 1-1 draw with Fulham. Numbers two and three came in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in September when he also struck the first of the match.

Even his goal at West Ham United last month arrived in the sixth minute, but he was beaten to the first goal punch in that game by Irons forward Michail Antonio, who found the net inside the first 60 seconds.

It's 9/5 for Delap to score anytime on Saturday and that's still something worth taking on, in my opinion, but I fancy his chances of opening the scoring for the third time this season.

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