Premier League | Gameweek 8

Oct 19, 2024 at 3pm UK

Portman Road Stadium

Ipswich vs Everton

Match preview

After beating Everton in the Premier League at Goodison Park in February 2002, Ipswich won just one of their final 12 games of the season before being relegated.

It took 22 years for the Tractor Boys to return to the top flight, but that drought has now been extended to one win in 19 as Ipswich remain winless on their return.

Never before have Ipswich gone eight games without a win to start a top-flight season, so manager Kieran McKenna will be keen to avoid making unwanted history, although his side are in a respectable position given their difficult start.

Unlucky draws against Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening two games, Ipswich then proved they could compete at this level by drawing their next four matches.

However, a 4-1 defeat at West Ham United was not the way McKenna would have wanted to sign off before the international break and showed the true reality of Premier League football and how unforgiving it can be.

With Everton and Leicester City in their next two games at Portman Road, the East Anglian outfit will be desperate to pick up their first Premier League win of the season before the next international break or risk slipping into the bottom three, with Crystal Palace just a point above them.

Ipswich came close to victory against Aston Villa and Fulham thanks to Liam Delap's heroics up front, but were unable to get over the line and had to settle for a point on both occasions.

Although it was more than two decades ago, the home fans will be looking to recent results against Everton to give them some confidence, and with good reason, as Ipswich took 10 points from their four games against the Toffees during their two-year spell in the top flight between 2000 and 2002.

In the 1990s, however, Everton had the upper hand, winning five of the six meetings between 1993 and 1999, but their recent away record suggests they may struggle against the newly promoted side.

Only twice in Premier League history have Everton gone longer without a win away from home than their current run of 14, but there are signs of optimism after a terrible start.

Everton supporters need not be reminded of the disastrous back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth and Aston Villa, with the only game in which they avoided defeat in their opening six matches being an EFL Cup tie against fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers.

Since then, however, Everton have gone three games without defeat, picking up their first point of the season at Leicester, beating Crystal Palace and holding Newcastle United to a goalless draw before the break.

Anthony Gordon became the first former Everton player to have a penalty saved at Goodison Park in 102 years when England international Jordan Pickford saved from the spot in the first half, and Everton were furious not to have one of their own after the break when Dan Burn appeared to trip Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The point left Everton in 16th place, two points above the relegation zone, and with games against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in the space of three-and-a-half weeks in December, Sean Dyche's side need to start winning sooner rather than later.

Recent Performance

Ipswich Town Premier League form:LDDDDL

Ipswich Town form (all competitions):LDDDDL

Everton Premier League form:LLLDWD

Everton form (all competitions):LLLDWD

Injuries and suspensions

Ipswich

40 Axel Tuanzebe

Everton

19 Vitaliy Mykolenko

23 Séamus Coleman

22 Armando Broja

Possible starting lineups

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Muric; Johnson, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Phillips; Burns, Hutchinson, Clarke; Delap

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin