Ipswich Town and Hull City will not only play their rescheduled match from matchday 32, but will also decide who are more deserving of third place. A win for either side would push Millwall down from that position.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich were regarded as one of the main contenders for first place. After relegation from the Premier League they retained a fairly strong squad, whose players could be sold more profitably than those at Coventry City or any other club in the EFL Championship. From the end of October they went on such a strong run that by New Year they had even dislodged Middlesbrough from second place. However, two defeats and a draw in four rounds, plus the postponed match against Hull City, have dropped them to fourth.
Hull City
Hull have not been in the top five since the end of last year by accident. Since 10 December (matchday 20) they have lost to only three sides – Stoke City (1:0), Bristol City (3:2) and Queens Park Rangers (3:1). All those defeats came at home: under manager Sergej Jakirović the side have an identical points record at the MKM Stadium and away (30 apiece). They are unbeaten in their last eight away matches and are currently on a run of five consecutive away wins.
Ipswich Town vs Hull City Prediction
The comfortable 3:0 win over Swansea City in the previous round once again showed that Ipswich are almost unbeatable at Portman Road, where they have 11 wins and five draws from 17 matches and a goal difference of +21. At the same time Hull are on an eight-match unbeaten away run, so we can expect a fairly even contest; we will back Hull with a +1.5 handicap.
