Tranmere vs Ipswich Predictions

• Only league leaders Rotherham have claimed more travelling points than Ipswich this season.
• Tranmere are the not-so-proud owners of League 1’s third-worst home record.
• Ipswich have claimed 11 more points away from home than Tranmere have at Prenton Park.

Rovers need a win

Thanks to both the form of those around them and a run of four games without a win, Tranmere find themselves in the bottom three. Fortunately, they’re only two points from safety, but they must regain the winning thread ASAP, or they could soon find themselves cut adrift along with Southend and Bolton, who’ve essentially already been consigned to a future in League 2.

Last weekend’s failure to beat a Southend side that looks doomed highlighted Tranmere’s struggles. In recent weeks, they’ve been finding it tough to get going offensively, while prior to drawing 0-0 with the Shrimpers, they had been giving plenty away.

Saturday’s hosts have secured some useful results at this venue of late, but their limitations were very much exposed when they took on Coventry last time out at home. The manner of their defeat on that occasion does not bode well ahead of a match against an Ipswich side that is back on the up.

Tractor Boys back on the up

After a period of stagnation, Ipswich appear to be moving in the right direction, which is towards the automatic promotion places, which they’re now just two points shy of. Paul Lambert’s men weren’t unable follow up their thrashing of Accrington with a win, but they continued to do well by becoming only the third team to avoid defeat at Kassam Stadium in over three months. By drawing 0-0 against a very strong Oxford side they also became only the second team to keep a clean sheet at Kassam since April last season.

Barring the freak defeat at Lincoln in between Christmas and New Year, Ipswich have looked very solid of late. At times, they’ve not offered enough going forward, but they’re very difficult to get at and are good at restricting teams. They’ve conceded more than once in just one of their last six, while they rank up there with the best in terms of both shots and shots on target conceded this season.

Visitors to edge it

Ipswich may not have won at Kassam on Tuesday, but they delivered a performance that suggests they can go to Prenton Park and pick up three points in solid fashion. ‘Ipswich to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’ stands out as a viable option. The Tractor Boys are no strangers to winning away from home, while they’re no strangers to beating the lesser teams having recorded away wins against Rochdale, Southend, MK Dons and Bolton this term. They’re also no strangers to winning in solid, low-scoring fashion. Four of their seven wins have been by a 1-0 score-line, while less than four goals have been scored in 71% of their travelling matches. In contrast, Tranmere have failed to win each of their three home games against teams currently in the top six but have seen less than four goals go in in seven of their last eight at Prenton Park.