Portsmouth vs Ipswich Betting Tips

The first meeting at Portman Road was a lively affair and saw 4 goals shared evenly in a dramatic 2nd half. It was 1-1 going into the final 5 minutes when Conor Chaplin looked to win it for the underdogs only for Ryan Fraser to pop up with a goal for Ipswich just 2 minutes later and send the tie to a Fratton Park replay.

Pompey have appeared in 2 FA Cup finals over the past decade, winning the trophy in 2008 but have fallen on very hard times since then but will be hopeful that a corner has been turned with the club in the hunt for promotion from League Two.

They’ve not played since the original meeting due to the postponement of their game at Accrington on Saturday so should be the fresher of the sides although Ipswich are likely to make numerous changes in any case. Portsmouth are unbeaten in 10 at home and have only conceded 2 goals in that period although even a weakened Ipswich outfit is likely to be by far the strongest side they’ve faced.

The Suffolk club have suffered just 2 defeats in 16 matches in all competitions and are unbeaten in 7 on the road and they have won 5 of their last 6 matches away from Portman Road, where they seem more comfortable playing so Portsmouth would be unwise to think this game will be any easier than the first meeting.

Despite the fact that 2 divisions and 42 places in the English football pyramid separate the two sides, it is lower ranked Pompey who are the favourites to win at 6/4. That is a little surprising given that Ipswich are right in contention for promotion to the top flight and are so strong on the road but is most likely based on their likely naming of a few fringe players in their starting eleven.

Even so they should have enough higher level quality to have the better of things and although the 90 minutes are likely to be close, if the tie was to go to Extra Time that should favour the visitors who ought to have higher fitness levels and would be able to bring on some quality off the bench. Therefore consider backing Ipswich to qualify for the next round at 5/6.

Mick McCarthy would certainly rather avoid an added 30 minutes here though and could throw on a few of his better players sooner rather than later if things aren’t going their way so there may be some value in backing Ipswich to win 2-1 in normal time at 10/1.