Fixtures
- Ipswich Town Vs. Aston Villa – Sun, Sep 29th 2024, 14:00
Aston Villa head to East Anglia on Sunday to play Ipswich Town for the first time since 2019.
The two clubs were Championship sides when they last faced off, but will now be fighting for three Premier League points at Portman Road.
Unai Emery’s team are looking to make it five wins from their opening six league matches following a 2-1 success at home to Wolves last weekend.
Ipswich are still adjusting to life in the top flight after being promoted as runners-up in the Championship last term.
Consecutive defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool were a tough way to start the campaign, but they’ve since drawn with Fulham, Brighton and Southampton.
Kieran McKenna’s side are seeking a first win of the season, having also been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by AFC Wimbledon.
Stats
Ipswich Town have won just one of their 10 Premier League games against Aston Villa (D2, L7), with Gavin Johnson scoring the only goal for the Suffolk side at Villa Park in March 1994.
Villa are unbeaten in 10 league games at Portman Road since a 3-0 defeat in September 1984 (W5, D5).
Ipswich’s 1-0 victory at Villa Park in the Championship in 2017 is their only win in 14 attempts in this fixture in all competitions.
Aston Villa have won their last three Premier League matches, their best run since five successive victories between March and April 2023.
Ipswich can remain winless in their opening six matches of a top-flight season for the first time since 1982.
Villa could equal their longest away winning streak from the beginning of a league campaign of three, last set in 2020.
The Blues have won just one of their last 18 Premier League games, a 1-0 home victory against Middlesbrough in April 2002.
Villa can win six consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time as a top-flight club in 15 years.
Ipswich have had 14 Premier League shots on target this season, five fewer than Erling Haaland.
Jhon Duran has netted eight of his nine Premier League goals as a substitute, including coming off the bench to score in four of Villa’s five Premier League games this season.
The Tractor Boys have not scored a Premier League goal between the 16th and 94th minute in the current campaign.
Under Unai Emery, they have won nine of their 10 Premier League games against newly promoted opposition.
The Last Meeting
Tammy Abraham stepped up and decided the match when Ipswich Town visited Villa Park back in January 2019.
The on loan striker volleyed Conor Hourihane’s free-kick into the net to give the hosts the perfect start after six minutes.
Abraham was on target again just after the hour mark, slotting a penalty, before Town responded through Freddie Sears.
Team News
Captain John McGinn is facing a spell on the sidelines after coming off against Wolves with a hamstring injury.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are back in full training and will be building up their fitness with minutes for the Under-21s in upcoming games.
Kalvin Phillips is likely to return after missing Ipswich’s last match with a thigh injury.
Nathan Broadhead and Harry Clarke are both in contention, with back-up goalkeeper Cieran Slicker the only player ruled out.
Managers’ Pre-match Thoughts
“My expectation for Sunday is that they will play very well and we have to compete to adapt to them and stop them because they’re aggressive in their high press and their duels. They have a very good structure to play in combination with the players they have. The goalkeeper is playing very well and we have to respect them because they deserved to be promoted last season to the Premier League. Their coach is doing amazing work and tactically they are showing a very good structure. I am working deeply, analysing them and trying to set our structure on the field on Sunday to be competitive.” – Unai Emery
“We’re expecting a really good challenge. They’re doing well and they have a fantastic manager who I’ve come up against when he was at Arsenal and Villarreal. This team’s got a lot of the same characteristics as the Villarreal side. It’s a team we’ve watched a lot because they’re a really good reference point on a lot of things. There are a lot of structures that are similar to ours and they’re executing to a Champions League level. We expected to be tested a lot when they have the ball and they’ll give us different problems.” – Kieran McKenna
