Preview: Swansea City vs. Ipswich Town - prediction, team news, lineups

At a time when the Tractor Boys sit in fourth position in the Championship table, Swansea head into Saturday's fixture in 17th place.

Match preview

Amid rumours of a potential approach from Crystal Palace, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna has faced questions over his future at Portman Road.

That now looks more secure with the Eagles having seemingly gone in a different direction, and it comes at the same time as Ipswich finally got back to winning ways.

A thumping 4-0 victory over Millwall at The Den represented just their second success in 10 league fixtures, keeping them on the coattails of Leeds United and Southampton.

While Ipswich have given up what was once a commanding hold of second position, they may benefit from the pressure being eased and placed on the shoulders of the teams above them.

Nevertheless, the Tractor Boys still need to take care of their own business, and they remain with the second-best away record in the division with 29 points coming from their 16 games on their travels.

In sharp contrast, Swansea have been extremely poor at home, collecting just 17 points from 16 such fixtures on familiar territory.

Two of their recent three defeats at the Swansea.com Stadium have been against Southampton and Leeds, yet the manner of the 4-0 reverse to the latter will concern Luke Williams.

Although Swansea recorded a notable 1-0 win at Hull City last weekend, it remains Williams' only league win in six outings since his arrival from Notts County.

Now that his side have dropped to within seven points of the relegation zone ahead of facing another promotion contender, pressure is growing on the new arrival to kick-start his reign.

Swansea City Championship form:

D

L

L

L

W

L

Swansea City form (all competitions):

L

L

L

L

W

L

Ipswich Town Championship form:

D

W

D

L

D

W

Ipswich Town form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

D

W

Team News

Williams will inevitably make a number of changes to his Swansea XI, with Joe Allen and Jerry Yates expected to be handed recalls.

Arsenal loanee Charles Sagoe Jr may also be handed his first start on the flank, potentially ahead of fellow recent arrival Ronald.

In sharp contrast, McKenna could be prepared to select the same Ipswich team that breezed to victory at Millwall.

McKenna was able to rest players in the closing quarter, leaving the likes of Conor Chaplin and Jeremy Sarmiento to likely remain among the replacements for this fixture.

Kieffer Moore has quickly established himself as first-choice forward since his arrival, already scoring three times in 211 minutes of football.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:

Rushworth; Naughton, Cabango, Humphreys, Tymon; Fulton, Allen; Sagoe Jr, Paterson, Placheta; Yates

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Hladky; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Burns, Hutchinson, Broadhead; Moore

We say: Swansea City 1-3 Ipswich Town

Although Ipswich were starting to be written off, they responded in the best possible way on Wednesday. With that in mind, we are backing the Tractor Boys to record another confidence-building win over another struggling side.

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