Ipswich Town take on Watford, at Vicarage Road, in a Championship clash tonight (7.45pm, Sky Sports Arena). Stuart Watson previews the action.
WE GO AGAIN
Ipswich Town have just recorded three straight victories against sides that finished in the Championship play-offs last season in Millwall (3-1 at home), Coventry (2-1 at home) and Middlesbrough (2-0 away). Can they make it four wins on the spin tonight? That’s a big ask.
Serial sackers Watford are, surprisingly, not among the 10 Championship clubs to have changed manager come the middle of December. That means boss Valerien Ismael is doing something right.
The high intensity Hornets currently sit 10th in the table. They’ve lost just one of their last 10 games (and that was 2-0 at league leaders Leicester). A last-gasp equaliser against Southampton on Saturday means they’ve still only lost two games at Vicarage Road this season (W5 D4 L2).
OPPOSITION OVERVIEW
Watford finished 11th last season after having three different managers in the form of Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic and Chris Wilder.
Star men Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr – who produced 31 goals and assists between them – were promptly sold to Brighton (£30m) and Marseille (£9.5m) respectively.
New boss Ismael’s recruitment has been varied. Experienced Premier League and Championship campaigners such as Jake Livermore, Tom Ince and Jamal Lewis were added, as were foreign signings such as Danish striker Mileta Rajovic, Brazilian winger Matheus Martins, Canadian midfielder Ismael Kone and Georgian attacker Giorgi Chakvetadze.
“I’m incredibly proud of the evolution of this team,” said Ismael, after Rhys Healy’s late leveller against Southampton on Saturday. “Since the game against Leeds (a 3-0 away defeat in September) you can see such an improvement.
"The win over Norwich (3-2 from 2-0 down on November 28) was a turning point in terms of the players’ mindset. In order to attack the top of the table we now have to become more ruthless - this is the last step. We need to make sure the opponent feels we can score at any time. Hopefully we can take this belief into Tuesday, be more clinical and take all three points.”
DOES SAM START?
There’s a big call to be made tonight as to whether to rest Sam Morsy or not. Town’s influential skipper was harshly booked for ‘kicking the ball away’ deep into stoppage-time at the Riverside just a split second after the whistle had blown for a soft free-kick. Frustratingly, he’s now one yellow card away from a two-game ban.
Given the much-anticipated East Anglian derby with Norwich City is coming up on Saturday lunchtime, will the 32-year-old be risked? McKenna intimated he won’t take any liberties with tonight's tough fixture when quizzed on the issue soon after Saturday’s final whistle.
This evening's referee, by the way, is Premier League experienced David Coote. He's handed out an average of four bookings a match this season.
If Morsy were to drop out that would likely mean a so far untested midfield duo of Massimo Luongo – available again after serving a one-game ban – and Jack Taylor. Luongo would have to slightly adapt his usual role to protect the back four, but he’s more than capable of that.
The most natural like-for-like swap, positionally, would actually be Dominic Ball. The 28-year-old has plenty of Championship experience, remember. It was interesting to see McKenna highlight the fringe man's ‘near perfect’ cameo display at Boro in the build-up to this one.
OTHER SELECTION POSERS
Off the back of one of the longest trips of the season, Ipswich now plays six games in 21 days.
McKenna says he will have to fully utilise his squad depth for such a hectic period either side of Christmas, be that rotating the starting XI or making the most of the five-sub rule.
So what are the options to freshen things up tonight? Full-back Brandon Williams is also available again after serving one-game ban. The Manchester United loanee has got a job on his hands dislodging the in-form Harry Clarke though.
Might Axel Tuanzebe or George Edmundson replace either Luke Woolfenden or Cameron Burgess in the heart of defence? The latter two played well at the weekend, but McKenna has shown he’s not afraid to freshen up that area of his team in midweek. Watford do have some powerful runners in attack.
Young Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson proved at Southampton back in September that he is capable of starting games of this stature on the road. Might he be elevated to the starting XI after a coolly-taken goal off the bench? We'll see.
Kayden Jackson, Marcus Harness and Dane Scarlett are other options to mix things up in attack.
A CHANCE TO GO TOP
Leicester City are not in action until tomorrow (at home to Millwall). A win tonight, therefore, would, temporarily at least, lift Town to the top of the table.
A result to look out for elsewhere tonight is Leeds at managerless Sunderland. Ipswich will want to be heading to Elland Road on Saturday, December 23 with a decent gap to Daniel Farke’s men still in tact.
RECORD AT WATFORD
Town's last trip to Vicarage Road was a memorable one. March 21, 2015 was the day that Richard Chaplow ran clear at the death to seal a 1-0 win that knocked Watford off top spot and kept Mick McCarthy's men in the top-six.
Michael Chopra bagged a late winner there in 2012 too, but overall this isn't a ground Ipswich have a particularly good record. They've lost eight of their last 10 games in this fixture.
STU’S PREDICTION
My slight fear going into this one is that the Hornets’ intense, in-your-face, athletic approach is the style that Ipswich least like facing.
Middlesbrough and Watford both away in the space of four days is a huge challenge. I’d snap your hand off for a draw. Four points from a possible six would be a superb return. I’ll say 1-1.
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