English Premier
2025-04-13 - Chelsea vs Ipswich Town
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 13th April 2025 - Kick Off 2pm
Chelsea
It may not have been the perfect performance overall, but the strong second half showing in Poland has helped Chelsea place one foot and four toes into the Conference League Semi Final. They remain strong favourites to win the trophy next month, which would be rewarded with a place in the Europa League, although the other ambition for Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea squad is earning a top five finish in the top flight.
Getting back into the Champions League would give Chelsea a huge financial boost and they are 4th in the Premier League table. However, there is just a single point between Chelsea and 6th placed Manchester City, who play twenty-four hours earlier, and so there is some pressure on the West London club. The Blues have a 9-4-2 record at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League where they have scored 28 goals and conceded 15.
Chelsea have won 6 of their last 8 games in all competitions, although they have perhaps not been as impressive in terms of performances rather than results. Stamford Bridge has given Chelsea some home comfort to enjoy with 6 straight wins here in all competitions, although the last 3 have all ended 1-0.
Wesley Fofana is out for the remainder of the season, while Romeo Lavia is still not available for selection. Enzo Maresca rotated his squad for the last couple of fixtures, but the likes of Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson could earn starts.
Ipswich Town
It was revealed this week that Liam Delap has a £30 million pound release clause if Ipswich Town are relegated and there are a host of clubs interested in signing the young striker after a breakthrough year in the Premier League. At this stage it is a matter of when Ipswich Town are relegated, rather than if, although Kieran McKenna will be trying to motivate his players to fight as long as possible against the inevitability of the drop.
Blowing a lead against Wolves and eventually losing that fixture at Portman Road has left Ipswich Town in 18th place in the Premier League table and 12 points from safety. Seven games are left and you almost feel Ipswich Town need to win all of those to have any real hope of avoiding a return to the Championship, but they have won just four League games all season. The Tractor Boys have a 3-4-8 record away from home, which will offer them some encouragement as they bid for an upset.
Ipswich Town have won 1 of their last 8 games in all competitions and the defeat to Wolves means they have lost 4 of their last 6 in normal time. They have also suffered a FA Cup Fifth Round loss on Penalties at Nottingham Forest in that run, but the squad did produce a 1-2 win at Bournemouth in their last away Premier League game.
The squad that was available for selection last weekend should be ready to travel to West London on Sunday.
Head to Head
Ipswich Town have won once at Portman Road in the Premier League this season and that was the 2-0 victory over Chelsea in late December.
This will be their first League visit to Stamford Bridge since November 2001, but Ipswich Town have suffered a couple of heavy Cup defeats here in 2009 and 2011.
Prediction
Travelling to Poland on Thursday and playing in the Premier League on Sunday is far from ideal, but Chelsea were in an early kick off slot and were comfortable winners over Legia Warsaw.
Enzo Maresca was able to utilise his squad for that victory and several key players were rested, which means excuses will be hard to find if Chelsea are not able to earn the three points here.
Chelsea have been playing well enough to win matches at Stamford Bridge, but the performances have not really been that impressive. The fans have voiced their frustration, but wins are wins at this stage of the season with Chelsea pushing for a top five finish and a return to the Champions League.
Dropping points against a team destined for the Championship would represent a major blow to those ambitions considering the kind of matches Chelsea still have to play this season.
The expectation is that they will have enough to beat Ipswich Town who are going to be feeling pretty low after losing 1-2 at Portman Road against Wolves last weekend. Blowing a lead in that match against the team sitting directly above them in the Premier League standings has almost certainly left Ipswich Town to their relegation fate and Kieran McKenna will have a tough time picking the players up.
Liam Delap is still impressing and is almost certainly going to be playing at another Premier League club next season, but Ipswich Town have struggled to be competitive.
Credit has to be given to Ipswich Town for the fact that they have been competitive in away games in the Premier League despite giving up some big chances. Only 3 of their 15 away League games have ended in defeat by more than a single goal margin, but Ipswich Town had to rely on some fortune in recent away defeats at Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
Chelsea's recent run of home results will give Ipswich Town some encouragement with The Blues just struggling to put teams away. However, they will be motivated by the loss at Portman Road and Chelsea may just have a bit too much firepower and depth for the visitors who will still be hurting from losing to Wolves last time out.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea 3-1 Ipswich Town
