Ipswich Town and Manchester United do have a clash in the Premier League in late November. It is a game that would catch the interest of many as the Premier League new boys aim to cause an upset, while United are keen to make up for some losses in the early stages of the season.

As of the time of writing, Ipswich Town, who are still winless in the Premier League, are ranked 17th on the log, while Manchester United are 14th with 8 points from seven games.

Ipswich Town made a return to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years in the summer, but the start has not been what they envisaged. The Tractor Boys do have a lot of time and fixtures ahead of them but results have to start trickling in before the manager Kieran McKenna is shown the door. Despite his back-to-back promotions with the side, the management will not be happy to go down just immediately and that might see them take some steps even before this game.

After losing their first two Premier League games of the season to Liverpool and Manchester City, Ipswich Town went ahead to secure four consecutive draws against the likes of Fulham, Brighton, Southampton, and Aston Villa. Truth be told, the points against some of the established teams in the Premier League are quite fantastic but they still have to do more. One man who has been pushing the team has to be Liam Delap – who has scored four goals in seven games after his summer move from Manchester City.

“Liam has had a very good start,” said McKenna about Delap’s form back in October.

“He is a young striker who has had three loans in the Championship and he is still finding his way in the game. 

“His body has developed a lot over the last 12 months, which I think is important for a forward player playing in the physicality of the Premier League and even in the Championship. He is developing well.

“I think the demands we place on players here are higher than they usually experience at other clubs, so it took him a little while to adapt to the intensity of training and the intensity of our playing style. 

“For 21 years of age, the start he has had in the Premier League is really promising. But it is a handful of games and he knows there is still a long road ahead of him and lots of things to still improve on. He has made some really good first strides though,” the manager concluded. 

McKenna will hope Delap can lead his side to a win against Manchester United – a club he is familiar with.

As for Manchester United, things have not been right since the start of the season. During the transfer window, a lot of players left the club including Anthony Martial, Raphael Varane(now retired), Willy Kambwala (Villarreal), Omari Forson (Monza), and Mason Greenwood (Marseille). Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho left for Chelsea on deadline day to end another long transfer window for the winger.

In a bid to strengthen the squad, United made the signings of Leny Yoro (Lille), Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna), Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt arrived in a double swoop from Bayern Munich, and Manuel Ugarte was snapped up from PSG. Not much can be said about the additions due to United’s poor run of form at the time of writing this article.

The Red Devils lost three of their opening seven games of the season with just five goals scored. This sort of form does not inspire confidence in the hearts of the management and their fans. Meanwhile, Erik Ten Hag continues to lead the club but pressure is mounting for him to be shown the door, and if the current state of things does not improve, he might eventually get the boot.

Ipswich Town v Manchester United head-to-head record shows that in the past four meetings since 2000, Manchester United have won all four. However, the current state of things could be the turning point for the home side in this H2H.

Match tickets

This match at Portman Road in Ipswich kicks off on Sunday 24th November 2024, at 5:30 PM UK time. 

The 29,673-capacity stadium is the place for this clash between two sides aiming to improve their fortunes.

Getting Ipswich v Manchester United tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels. 

Team news

Line-ups

Ipswich do have what can be described as a clean bill of health as of the time of writing. Only summer recruit Jens Cajuste and full-back Harry Clarke could miss the visit of Manchester United. Therefore, Kieran McKenna is unlikely to make too many alterations from the side that he has deployed on multiple occasions this term.

Ipswich Town XI: Muric; Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Phillips; Burns, Hutchinson, J. Clarke; Delap.

Erik Ten Hag has come under intense criticism about his work at Manchester United but he has still done his part to keep the job. If he does remain in the role before this fixture takes place, one would expect his trusted allies to feature once again. Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are all long-term absentees. Regardless, United should still present a strong squad for this game.

Manchester United XI: Andre Onana; Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui; Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte; Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford.

Prediction

Ipswich have not been up and running but they have made some exciting impressions and they do need points going forward.

On the other hand, Manchester United are not in the best of form as of the time of writing and this is a sort of game they could go on and labour to win. It has happened several times under the Dutchman’s tenure. 

It is a case of two managers under pressure to deliver and the one who wants it more will most likely get the win. 

 Ipswich Town 1-2 Manchester United