Ipswich Town vs Manchester City Preview

Ipswich Town will look to quickly return to winning ways when they welcome current Premier League holders Manchester City to Portman Road for the 22nd league game of the season.

The hosts ended 2024 with a bang beating Chelsea 2-0 in their last game of the year at Portman Road. As such, the pressure was on Ipswich Town to make it successive home Premier League wins for the first time since January 2002.

Unfortunately for the Tractor Boys, they failed in that quest on Thursday as they were beaten 2-0 by Brighton, deepening their relegation fears. But they have moved to strengthen themselves against relegation with the big-money signing of Jaden Philogene from Aston Villa.

Manager Kieran McKenna will be hoping that his acquisition can give his side more attacking firepower that they have lacked, having failed to score in three of their last five Premier League fixtures. They also remain the third-lowest scorers in the competition ahead of the weekend (20 goals).

Meanwhile, Manchester City will look to bounce back from another poor outing in the league when they travel to Portman Road on Sunday. The Premier League holders have continued to struggle as despite leading 2-0 midway through the second half at Brentford on Tuesday, two late goals for the Bees saw Pep Guardiola’s side drop two valuable points in an eventual 2-2 draw.

That result continued their poor Premier League away form. The Citizens have now won just one of their last seven games on the road in the competition (D2, L4), leaving any potential title defence in tatters.

However, Man City’s good record against newly promoted opposition suggests that they are due to bounce back here. City have won 20 of their last 21 Premier League matches against such opposition since April 2021 (D1).

If they can replicate that winning outcome again here, they’ll likely move a step closer to the top four while claiming just a third-ever league double over Ipswich in the process.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table