Chelsea vs Ipswich predictions: Blues to push Tractor Boys closer to the brink
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- Chelsea have kept five clean sheets in their last six competitive games
- Only Leicester and Southampton have scored fewer Premier League goals than Ipswich
- Recommended bet: Chelsea to win to nil
Ipswich are running out of time in their attempts to perform a great escape from Premier League relegation and the Tractor Boys may be dealt another blow when they visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Hosts Chelsea have returned to form after a brief winter blip and the top-four hopefuls are odds-on favourites to wrap up another three points against the struggling visitors.
Team news
Mykhailo Mudryk is suspended for Chelsea while Wesley Fofana has been ruled out for the rest of the season. There is hope that both Romeo Lavia and Marc Guiu will return before the season's end but Sunday's game will come too soon.
Ipswich’s injury list is far more extensive than their hosts, with Leif Davis, Sam Szmodics, Omari Hutchinson, Wes Burns, Chiedozie Ogbene, and Arijanet Muric all sidelined for the Tractor Boys.
The stats
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Chelsea have won to nil in their last four competitive home games.
Ipswich have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League fixtures.
Chelsea have only lost two of their 22 home games in all competitions.
The Blues have only conceded twice in their last eight matches.
Prediction
Three second-half goals saw Chelsea rack up a commanding first-leg lead in Warsaw on Thursday night and the UEFA Conference League favourites look good value to transfer that form to the Premier League when they host Ipswich on Sunday.
The Blues are locked in a multi-team battle for a top-four berth this season and, with just seven points separating them in fourth from Brighton in ninth, every point matters as we reach the business end of the campaign.
Enzo Maresca’s side spent much of the first half of the season embroiled in high-scoring games as their prolific forwards attempted to make up for a leaky defensive setup, but the Italian has plugged the gaps in the back line and they head into Sunday’s game having conceded just twice in their last eight competitive fixtures.
They have won their last four home games without conceding, and that looks likely again when they face the third-lowest scoring side in the top flight.
Ipswich head into gameweek 32 12 points adrift of safety and their chances of producing a remarkable escape are looking bleaker by the day.
The Tractor Boys have lost nine of their last 11 league fixtures and could struggle to make an impact at Stamford Bridge, where the hosts have lost only twice in 22 competitive games this season.
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