The international break is over and once more our attention turns towards the club game. The live match on Sky Sports this Friday night comes from the Championship, with a 20:00 kick-off.

That game is at the New York Stadium and we are here with our Rotherham vs Ipswich Predictions along with a couple of odds-against tips that we think you should consider…

This is very much a tale of two teams. One already mired in a relegation fight and the other soaring high and looking at possibly a long-awaited return to the top flight.

Rotherham fans have only been able to walk away from the ground having seen their team win once so far in the league, although that win was a decent one, beating a solid Norwich side 2-1 back in the early days of September. 

The Millers are unsurprisingly the 1/3 favourites to drop out of the Championship. Having accrued just six points through 11 games, life is tough for the Yorkshire club.

Things however are much brighter down in Suffolk where Ipswich are still riding that promotion high and looking like a team who’ll be there or thereabouts when the big games are being played in the spring of 2024. The Tractor Boys have still only lost the one game, a 3-4 reversal at the hands of Leeds United.

It isn’t as though Kieran McKenna’s side are grinding out results either, they’ve won nine of the other 10 games they’ve played and are the top scorers in the division, having found the back of the net 25 times. 

Team News:

Rotherham’s problems aren’t helped by an absolute injury-crisis defensively that has left them incredibly short of fit centre-backs. Cameron Humphreys is out until 2024 and the full extent of former Manchester United man Tyler Blackett’s problems are still being assessed.

Manager Matt Taylor will also have to see how his goalkeeper is feeling both mentally and physically following the terror attack in Belgium that resulted in two Swedes being killed.

Viktor Johansson was part of the Swedish squad caught up in the incident and spent the night under police guard before being able to escape. That is an awful lot to go through, so his participation is not a given.

Sean Morrison and Hakeem Odoffin however will be available along with veteran Lee Peltier, whose experience is going to be vital if they are going to get anything from this game.

Things aren’t half as complicated for the visitors as they are unlikely to see any changes to their previous starting XI. The only question mark revolves around the fitness of Wes Burns, who suffered a minor injury whilst on international duty for Wales. Kayden Jackson would be the obvious plug and play replacement.

Match Odds: 

Considering the form and league positions of the two sides, it should come as no surprise to see that Ipswich are the 4/9 betting favourites to win this match. The draw is a pretty big 16/5 and if you think Rotherham get just their second win of the season, you can back them at 9/2.

When you see that the Over 2.5 Goals market comes in at 4/7 but the Both Teams to Score is an Even money bet, reading between the lines, the traders clearly think Ipswich will score two or more goals in this game. 

Ipswich players dominate the goalscorer markets with Conor Chaplin and Freddie Ladapo topping the charts at 4/1 to hit the back of the net first, with the former just edging it out for anytime, coming in at 11/8 compared to 13/10. 

You don’t see a Rotherham name until the 12th player in the market. Jordan Hugill is 3/1 anytime, which is pretty tasty considering they are the home side and 10/1 to score first.

The Correct Score Market is skewed heavily towards an Ipswich victory. My own personal choice would be 0-2 for the visitors, which comes in at 7/1. The same odds are available for 1-2. The 0-1 away win is slightly longer at 13/2. If you think we get a bit of a shock, 0-0 is a 14/1 play with the 1-1 Full-Time score 15/2. A 1-0 home win at 18/1 says plenty.

Bet 1 – Over 42.5 Booking Points @ 6/5

Australian referee Jarred Gillett is the man with the whistle on Friday night and he seems to enjoy flashing the cards. In his only game so far this season in the Championship, six players saw yellow and another got his marching orders. 

Three times he’s taken to the pitch in the Premier League and he’s averaging 4.33 yellow cards per game and again, he’s shown a red. Therefore the over 42.5 Booking Points feels like a good lean at odds against.

Bet 2 – Ipswich to Win to Nil @ 8/5

I may have said earlier than Jordan Hugill to score anytime at 3/1 was a tasty price but that is just a value play. Anytime you are at home and a centre-forward is 3/1 or longer to score, it is worth at least a second look but in reality, this feels like a comfortable away win, so I’m looking to find a way to expand that value.

The way I’ve found is having the visitors to win without conceding. Three times already this campaign Kieran McKenna’s side have gone on the road and taken home the three points without their keeper having to pick the ball from out of the back of his net. 

Rotherham are not a good side coming forward, so at 8/5, which comes in as a 39% shot in terms of implied probability, I’d lean towards it being slightly better than a 50:50 shot.

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