Overview
After a run of eight consecutive wins in the second half of November until mid-December, Chelsea suddenly slowed down with a 0-0 draw against Everton and a 1-2 defeat against Fulham.
After round 18, Chelsea has created an 8-point gap with Premier League leader Liverpool, and at the same time lost 2nd place to Arsenal. Obviously, The Blues need to quickly regain the winning feeling if they do not want to fall too far behind.
In the final match of 2024, Chelsea will want to reclaim the second place in the rankings, especially when Arsenal has a difficult away trip to Brentford. However, the necessary condition for The Blues is to win 3 points against Ipswich Town.
Despite being newly promoted, Ipswich are not an easy opponent to bully. They have only 12 points after 18 matches and are considered to be at risk of relegation. However, coach Kieran McKenna's team has left many marks such as defeating Tottenham away and forcing Man United to share points.
Of course, in every aspect, Ipswich are inferior to Chelsea at the moment. Even with home advantage, they can hardly avoid defeat when The Blues are very determined.
Chelsea have won 19, lost nine and drawn 10 of their previous 38 games against Ipswich Town. The last meeting between the two sides was an FA Cup tie in 2011, with the Blues winning 7-0.
Human resources situation
Ipswich Town remain without Chiedozie Ogbene, while Axel Tuanzebe and Geooge Hirst are also injured. Delap will lead the line once again, while captain Sam Morsey could feature after being suspended against Arsenal.
On the other side of the front line, Chelsea have injury problems with Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia all unable to play. Tosin Adarabioyo could start in defence, while players like Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix are likely to be benched.
Expected lineup:
Ipswich Town: Muric Johnson, O'Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Hutchinson, Cajuste, Morsey, Szmodics, Delap.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Sancho, Palmer, Neto, Jackson.
The match between Ipswich Town and Chelsea takes place at 2:45 am on December 31 (Vietnam time).
