Ipswich v Bournemouth prediction, predicted line-ups & team news

Ipswich are the sort of side who make you check the scoreboard twice.

In nine league games they've scored 14 and conceded 18, which is a fair description of a team that is rarely dull and rarely safe.

Their last two outings were 2-2 at Hull City and 1-1 at home to Nottingham Forest, and both were games they could have lost as easily as drawn.

Now comes a Bournemouth side who have found their feet at just the right moment, with a 2-0 win over Leeds and a 3-0 win at Manchester United among their last three victories.

One team wants a first clean sheet of the season. The other has three of them in the bank.

Ipswich sit 14th on 11 points from nine games, with a goal difference of minus four and just four points between them and Crystal Palace in the bottom three.

The problem is at the back, and it's worst away from home, where they've conceded 13 in five matches. Portman Road has been kinder, with five conceded in four, and two wins from those four home games.

Over the last nine they've won three, drawn two and lost four, and the one real positive is that they keep scoring, with 1.56 goals per game and at least a goal in seven of their nine games.

Bournemouth are eighth on 12 points from nine, one point and six places better off than their hosts on the same number of games played.

The early weeks were bumpy, with a 5-1 defeat at Chelsea and a home loss to Liverpool, but the recent run reads very differently. They've scored seven and conceded none in their last three, and their season defensive record of 13 conceded is five fewer than Ipswich's.

The weak spot is the road, where they've let in nine in four games, so Ipswich will fancy their chances of getting at them.

Across the last nine league games Ipswich have won three, drawn two and lost four, while Bournemouth have won three, drawn three and lost three, so on paper there is little between them.

The direction of travel tells a different story. Bournemouth's three most recent results are all wins, with a 7-0 aggregate score, while Ipswich haven't won since beating Fulham 2-1 on 10 October and have since drawn at Hull City and at home to Forest, either side of a 3-2 defeat at Manchester City.

The underlying numbers lean the visitors' way too, with Bournemouth's xG against averaging 1.04 per game and Ipswich's 2.27.

Ipswich are 14th on 11 points, level with Newcastle, Leeds and Hull City in a congested middle. Bournemouth are eighth on 12 points with the same nine games played, so one result could swap them round.

The cushion is thin for the hosts. Crystal Palace in 18th have seven points, so a defeat would leave Ipswich looking over their shoulder before November is out.

For Bournemouth the view is upwards. Everton are fifth on 16 points (with a game more played), so a win here would put them within a point of the European places with the chasing pack still within reach.

It's an early-season fixture, but you can see why both sides would call it a six-pointer.

The sides have met six times and it has been remarkably even, with one win each and four draws. Both teams have scored in all six games, and the average is three goals per meeting, with four of the six going over 2.5.

The most recent was a 2-1 win for Ipswich at the Vitality Stadium on 2 April 2025, and in the earlier league meeting that season Bournemouth won 2-1 at Portman Road on 8 December 2024.

The pattern is clear enough, with goals at both ends and little to separate the sides. That backs up the case for both teams to score, and a one-goal margin looks the likeliest outcome again.

However, it would be unwise to lean too hard on a record that stretches back to the Championship days of 2014 and 2015. The sides are different now, and Bournemouth's recent defensive record suggests they won't be as obliging as they have been in the past.

The biggest gap is in the quality of chances. Bournemouth average 1.96 xG for and 1.04 against over their last nine, while Ipswich are on 1.36 for and a hefty 2.27 against. That is a full goal per game of difference in what they concede, and it suggests Ipswich's 18 conceded might even be flattering.

The second gap is shot volume. Bournemouth are averaging 13.78 shots with 4.78 on target, against 10.11 and 3.78 for the hosts.

Set-pieces could matter too, with Bournemouth winning 4.44 corners a game and Ipswich conceding 4.89, so the visitors should have plenty of chances to put the ball into the box.

Both sides lined up in a 4-2-3-1 last time out, and there is little reason to expect a change in shape. The hosts have used it in eight of their nine league games, and Bournemouth the same.

Ipswich: Walton; Ouattara, Diop, O'Shea, Davis; Palacios, Florentino; Fatawu, Enciso, Philogene; Emersonn

Bournemouth: Petrović; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert; Adams, Christie; Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson

Ipswich v Bournemouth kicks off at 14:00 GMT on Sunday 8 November at Portman Road. It is live on Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

The value here sits in the contrast between a defence that keeps leaking and an away side that keeps creating. Ipswich haven't kept a clean sheet all season and both teams have scored in all six head-to-head meetings, so the goals markets look the safer ground, with Bournemouth's superior chance quality the tiebreaker on the result.