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Ipswich v Leicester
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Kick Off: Tuesday 26th December at 19:45
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Competition: Championship
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Watch Live: Sky Sports Football
Boxing Day hosts the biggest game of this Championship campaign, and our experts have been all over this match, picking their favourite selections for you to include in your bet builders. Andy’s Bet Club has got all the EFL Christmas action covered in our EFL betting tips, EFL accumulator tips AND bet builder stats – everything you need for Boxing Day football.
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The biggest Championship game of the festive season rounds off the day’s action on Boxing Day and it is highly likely to be a full house at Portman Road with the red hot atmosphere guaranteed to balance out the chilly temperatures of the Suffolk night.
Ipswich have character, this has been obvious throughout their time under Kieran McKenna, but this is potentially their biggest test so far. They were blown away, and, frankly, fairly embarrassed by Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, and having been 3 and 4 goals down for the majority of the match, and suffering the “olé” chants for a long time, they might be happy to get back out onto the pitch soon to not dwell on that defeat.
Leicester come into the match with an extended gap at the top of the league, and with the chance to make that gap a huge 9 points. The Foxes are already a ridiculously short price to convert their current position into a title-winning campaign, but a win against their nearest rivals has the potential to make the second half of the season something of a procession.
There are lots of angles to consider when putting together a bet builder for this fixture. To do this we have the aid of our fantastic cheat sheet and with some extra analysis in certain aspects of the match there are some excellent angles to add to a bet builder.
Ipswich v Leicester Cheat Sheet
This Cheat Sheet and Preview was created using predicted lineups.
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You can find Ipswich v Leicester match stats, on my bet builder stats tool, along with official line-ups one hour before kick-off.
⚽️ Match stats: Leicester have the edge defensively
As well as separating themselves at the top of the table, Leicester are stretching their legs in some of the key performance metrics as well.
The Foxes sit at or near the top of all of the performance metrics. Potentially the most impressive aspect of their attacking play is the sheer number of ‘big’ chances they have created over anyone else in the league, currently standing at 67, six more than Leeds, and a whole 18 more than Ipswich.
When this is combined with a defensive record that have conceded only 16 goals in 23 matches, and only 20.7 xG, the second best in the league, then it is clear to see why the Foxes have such an impressive points tally.
This separation over Ipswich in the key numbers, Ipswich rank only 10th in the league for chance concession and equal 13th for goal concession, means that Leicester probably need to be considered as the better team overall, and by a decent margin.
Sometimes this doesn’t tell over only 100 minutes of a football match, but when considering the match odds, if any side looks to be value it is the league leaders. Also, when considering Ipswich’s defeats they have conceded 4 to Leeds twice and lost by 2 against West Brom, perhaps a big Leicester win could be considered.
Predictions:
⚽ Leicester to win @ 2..38
⚽ Leicester (-1 handicap) @ 4.50
🥅 Goals stats: High number of shots expected from Leicester and Ipswich
Despite the difficulties that Ipswich faced at Elland Road, one cannot forget the fact that they have been formidable at home. Their goalscoring exploits in front of their own supporters have been nothing less than excellent, and in their last home match, the derby against Norwich, they were dangerous through the match and scored their average number of 2 goals.
They achieve these goal tallies, and expected goal tallies (still the 4th best in the league), by having a high number of shots, and having a number of goal threats on the pitch. Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead average a really high number of shots, Chaplin over 4 per match, and George Hirst and Wes Burns aren’t afraid to take their chances either.
The final point to make on Ipswich’s goal and shot potential is that their bench is full of potential too. Omari Hutchinson, Marcus Harness, Freddie Ladapo, Kayden Jackson, and Dane Scarlett have all had their own impacts mainly off the bench this season. This means that their threat can last the full match.
Leicester have been really effective at controlling their matches, but this may be one in which they will have to accept that it cannot be controlled for the whole duration.
However, earlier in the season, they were devastating at St. Mary’s when they allowed Southampton to have the ball and they pressed them into a myriad of mistakes. No doubt that Enzo Maresca and team will have worked out how to orchestrate their press against Ipswich to create chances.
There should be plenty of chances in the match and the overs are in play both in the shots and goals markets.
Predictions:
⚽ Over 2.5 goals @ 1.65
⚽ Over 3.5 goals @ 2.60
🎯 Shooting stats: Patson Daka in red-hot form
It has been a balancing act for Enzo Maresca all season in how he gets the best out of the sensational set of forwards he has at his disposal. At the moment, Patson Daka is getting a run of starts, and the former Red Bull Salzburg Champions League striker is showing why Leicester paid a big fee for his services.
The Zambian has four goals in four league starts and is looking hungry. At an odds against price he is of interest to find the net again here.
Leicester have a whole host of threats though and central midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Wilfried Ndidi should also be considerations. The insurance of Harry Winks in behind those two has allowed them more freedom to go forward and be goal threats.
For Ipswich, Nathan Broadhead is the one who represents the most value in their forward ranks. He has the best goal per 90 record, and also the 2nd best xG per 90 total in the team, but is priced up as their third best chance of a goalscorer.
Predictions:
⚽ Wilfried Ndidi to have 1+ shot on target @ 3.0
⚽ Patson Daka to score anytime @ 3.20
⚽ Nathan Broadhead to score anytime @ 3.75
⚽ Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to score anytime @ 5.0
🟨 Cards stats: Morsy let off the leash for this encounter?
Ipswich as a team currently sit second in total fouls over the course of the season. Though they aren’t as high in the overall yellow card count, they did get four of them in their humiliation at Elland Road, but, as speculated, the Ipswich skipper was conspicuous by his absence from the list of cautions.
Sam Morsy has been sitting on a potential suspension for 10 yellow cards for quite some time, but, unless he feels that he is capable of getting game 37 then the suspension will have to come at some point and Ipswich will need the Egyptian international at the peak of his powers to get something out this game.
Leicester’s ‘best’ chance of a caution will come from their wide forwards. The way that Leicester press the ball in their opponents’ half often comes down to their wide forwards trapping the opposition in the corners and attempting to win the ball there.
The wide men are also incredibly hard working and support their full-backs, so all of the potential options to play there have high foul counts compared to the rest of their team. Abdul Fatawu has 5 cautions in 13 sets of 90 minutes, the highest rate by far in the Leicester squad.
Predictions:
⚽ Sam Morsy to be shown a card @ 2.20
⚽ Abdul Fatawu to be shown a card @ 2.75
* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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