It will be remembered as a rather bitter Christmas, football-wise, for Ipswich and Chelsea, who are about to face each other at Portman Road for the last first leg, which will also be their last match of 2024. Before and after December 25, both teams have had negative results, and while they were quite predictable for Ipswich (defeats against Newcastle and Arsenal), they were decidedly less so for Chelsea. The Blues, facing Everton and Fulham, have picked up a single point that greatly complicates the already difficult race for first place and sees their “cousins” Arsenal snatch second place from them. For Chelsea it will be essential to return to winning ways to avoid a slip to fourth place, which would be quite surprising considering the excellent work done by Enzo Maresca's boys up to now, but those who have at least the same need to earn points are certainly Ipswich, kept afloat, with difficulty, by the victory three rounds ago against Wolverhampton, which however finds itself in a series of defeats that puts the Tractor Boys alone in second to last place in the table.

Ipswich'shape and key statistics

2 wins, 6 draws and 10 defeats cannot be a salvation haul for Ipswich who, in fact, are in nineteenth place in the Premier League.

The last performance at the Emirates against Arsenal was decent but unsuccessful with the Gunners winning only by a narrow margin while the previous defeat against Newcastle was much more resounding (0-4). Overall, the Tractor Boys have 5 KOs in the last 6 matches and what is worrying about this streak is not so much the goals conceded but rather the goals scored (only 2).

A final unpleasant note for Ipswich is certainly the 0 in the home wins box: the only team in the Premier League not to have won in front of their home crowd.

Chelsea'shape and key statistics

The Premier League conducted so far by Chelsea is to be considered very good. With one matchday to go in the first half of the season, the Blues have 13 more points than last year and are third. The attacking department, which was feared to be too crowded and difficult to manage tactically and not only is shining and scores more than 2 goals per game! (2.11) as if to draw against Chelsea, the opponents, not even two goals, on average, were enough.

As already anticipated, however, for an evaluation of the very current situation rather than the season, the draw of Liverpool against Everton and especially the derby lost in full recovery against Fulham were two significant missteps.

A win at Portman Road would put almost everything back in place and, judging from what the Blues have done in away games in the Premier League so far (6 wins, 2 draws and only 1 defeat, moreover, at Anfield) the three points seem within reach for a team that, overall, has won 5 of the last 6 away games, except for the draw at Goodison Park.

Match Prediction and Tactical Overview

Despite leaving the pitch with 0 goals and 0 points, Ipswich at the Emirates appeared indomitable and still played a second half where, at times, they even put Arsenal in difficulty. With this spirit and, perhaps, with a Chelsea with a little less confidence, the Tractor Boys could have the chance to score at least one goal, a possibility that, for Chelsea's super attack, seems much easier. The BetMines prediction, therefore, sees the eventuality of both teams scoring as more likely.

• The BetMines algorithm prediction for the Ipswich - Chelsea match predicts that both teams will score at least one goal at 61%
• The BetMines algorithm prediction for the Ipswich - Chelsea match predicts that at least one of the two teams will not score at 39%

Ipswich - Chelsea predicted lineups

Ipswich (4-2-3-1): Muric; Clarke, O'Shea, Burgess, Davis; Philips, Morsy; Burns, Hutchinson, Szmodics; Delap. Coach: McKenna

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Disasi, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Felix; Nkunku. Coach: Maresca.