Both teams to score
Over 2.5 goals
Omari Hutchinson Anytime Goalscorer
Both teams to score in the first half – No
Blackburn +2
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
Friday 17:30pm
Championship match at Ewood Park, Blackburn
TV: Sky Sports Main Event & Football
Both teams to score
There have only been four occasions this season where Ipswich have failed to score in a Championship game, so an easy case is made for the league’s top scorers to once again find the net. However, despite the fact they are in the automatic promotion picture, Ipswich aren’t as reliable to keep a clean sheet. They’ve achieved just four shutouts across their 15 encounters in 2024.
Whilst Blackburn are indeed involved in the congested battle against relegation into League One, they have been regularly contributing to their goals scored tally in recent weeks. Rovers have managed to score in just over 76% of their league fixtures across the campaign.
Blackburn lead the league along with Huddersfield and Swansea for number of games ending with both teams scoring, whilst Ipswich are only one less in that statistic, suggesting goals should flow at Ewood Park.
Over 2.5 goals
If a strong case is built for both teams scoring, then expecting at least one more goal to be scored at either end is not incredibly unlikely. Over the last ten matches involving Ipswich, only once have the Tractor Boys failed to score twice or more. They won’t suddenly change their approach, meaning an open game is fairly probable.
Whilst Ipswich’s Championship clashes have contained an average of slightly under 3.4 goals, Blackburn are also no strangers to entertaining games full of goals. In fact, no team has seen more of their fixtures in the league feature at least three goals.
This would be a meeting of two clubs in the top-ten if purely based on league xG and with both still having plenty to play for, because of different reasons, this should be an exciting and open affair.
Omari Hutchinson anytime goalscorer
The fact Wes Burns had to pull out of international duty makes him a major doubt to be involved for Ipswich, meaning there’s every chance Omari Hutchinson maintains his place in the starting XI. He is most likely to do so anyway after netting a brace in the 6-0 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday before the international break.
The on-loan Chelsea attacker has helped himself to eight goals in all competitions this season despite not necessarily being a regular starter. However Kieran McKenna now trusts him with more prolonged minutes after bagging five in his last nine appearances.
He had no international football to deal with, unlike Kieffer Moore and Nathan Broadhead, so backing the refreshed 20-year-old to continue his scoring streak is an understandable investment.
Both teams to score in the first half – No
Touching on the fact of the international break finishing, many of the likely goalscorers on the pitch ultimately won’t have trained much in the build-up to this encounter. Not just the likes of Moore and Broadhead, but Rovers and Championship top scorer Sammie Szmodics also went away and played minutes for John O’Shea’s Ireland.
Therefore, the first half could potentially be a slow burner before things heat up after the interval, especially with both teams needing points here ideally. Ipswich are the highest scorers in the league beyond the 75th minute, so they won’t feel the need to go all guns blazing from the very off.
Blackburn have also become harder to beat under John Eustace and are currently on a three-game run of not conceding in the first half. Facing a top opponent like Ipswich, their aim will be to keep things tight early on.
Blackburn +2
Blackburn are more organised defensively since Eustace came into the club. However, victories remain exceptionally hard to come by, six of their last seven league matches have finished as draws. They’ve taken points off the likes of Norwich, Preston and Middlesbrough in that period.
Ipswich will be another big test for them, but remember they also took Newcastle to penalties in an FA Cup tie last month. The Tractor Boys may have only seen Leicester achieve more away points than them, but they aren’t ones to necessarily win emphatically when on their travels.
Only one of Ipswich’s away league wins came by a 3+ margin and they’ve also failed to win away against lowly opponents such as Rotherham, Huddersfield, Birmingham and Stoke.
Both teams to score
Over 2.5 goals
Omari Hutchinson Anytime Goalscorer
Both teams to score in the first half – No
Blackburn+2
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
READ MORE
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO SAFER GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
