East Anglia will come to a standstill on Sunday afternoon as Norfolk’s finest Norwich City travel south to Suffolk to take on their bitter rivals Ipswich Town. With only one point separating the two sides, the first East-Anglian derby of the season promises to be one of the biggest matches of the weekend. Mick McCarthy’s men are currently sat in 10th place in the Championship table with 18 points registered from their 11 league games so far.
EFL Championship – Portman Road – Sunday 22nd October 2017 – 12:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 5/2 at Ladbrokes |
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Ipswich Town
Norwich CityThere have been goals aplenty for the Portman Road faithful this term with 20 goals scored and 17 conceded – including a 5-2 demolition of Sunderland last month. Having won their first 4 league games, the Tractor Boys have dropped off the pace a bit but will be looking to Martyn Waghorn to fire them up the table and add to his tally of 6 goals this term.
Norwich City
The Canaries sit in 8th position in the Championship – one point off the play-off places and are in the midst of an 8 game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Their plucky spirit was underlined last week with an injury time equaliser against Hull City at home and Daniel Farke will be relishing his first East-Anglia derby. Despite their lofty position, Norwich have only scored 12 goals in their 12 games so far this term and will be looking to Nelson Oliveira to continue his fine goal scoring form this term – 4 goals in 8 games.
Head to Head
This is historically one of the bitterest rivalries in English football between two sides that have experienced Premier League and Championship football in recent years. Ipswich hold the overall head to head lead by 43 wins to Norwich’s 40 whilst 20 draws have been played out between the two sides. It was honours even last season as both league matches ended in 1-1 draws.
Odds and Predictions
This is a humdinger of a fixture and both teams will want to give their fans reason to cheer.
Both teams to score – YES – is a smart move at 4/6 with Ladbrokes.
Martyn Waghorn has impressed since his summer move from Rangers and would love to carry on his impressive form here.
Martyn Waghorn to score anytime is massively overpriced at 33/10 with 888 Sport.
Local derbies can often boil over and emotions can get the better of players.
A red card in the game is a real possibility at 5/2 with William Hill.
Both sides will be desperate not to lose such an important match for their fans.
Match to finish as a draw is a savvy move at 13/5 with Boyle Sports.
Score Prediction
Ipswich Town 1 – 1 Norwich City – 6/1 with William Hill.
Top Betting Tip
The atmosphere at Portman Road will be electric and it should be a fascinating encounter between two evenly matched sides.
Match to end as a draw and both teams to score looks an intelligent bet at 7/2 with Bet Victor.