Southampton 
Ipswich Town St. Mary's Shootout: Southampton vs Ipswich Town
Tuesday night at St. Mary's and this one genuinely matters. Southampton sit fifth on 76 points, Ipswich second on 80, and with the Championship season entering its final weeks, the gap between automatic promotion and the play-off lottery is very much alive. Kieran McKenna will want the three points. Tonda Eckert will know a win closes things up significantly. This is exactly the kind of match where the table gets reshaped.
Form
Southampton's recent form has a bit of everything. Three wins on the bounce in the Championship before the Bristol City draw, then a gutting 2-1 FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City just days ago. That cup exit will sting, but the league form underneath it is genuinely solid: 10 goals scored across those five matches, wins at Swansea and at home to Blackburn and Derby. Adam Armstrong's 11 goals and Fin Azaz's 10 give Eckert serious firepower, and with Ryan Manning chipping in seven goals from midfield, Saints aren't a one-trick outfit.
Ipswich's form is patchier than their league position suggests. A 0-2 loss at Portsmouth followed by a draw at home to Middlesbrough didn't exactly scream title challengers. They steadied with wins over Charlton and Norwich, but that 0-0 at West Brom last time out was flat. Jayden Clarke leads their scoring with 15 for the season, but he's being asked to carry a lot. The away record, W9 D6 L7, shows McKenna's side can be turned over on the road when pressed.
Injuries and Team News
Southampton are missing Flynn Downes, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and Samuel Edozie, all absent from this fixture. Losing Harwood-Bellis at the back is a real concern given how central he is to how Saints build. Ipswich have their own absences: Wes Burns, Leif Davis, and Harry Clarke are all out. Clarke's loss at right back could disrupt Ipswich's shape down that side, and Leif Davis is one of their most creative outlets from deep. Both squads are carrying knocks at the worst possible time of the season.
Head-to-Head
The most recent meeting between these two was the Championship fixture back in August, which ended 1-1 at Portman Road. Before that, Southampton beat Ipswich 1-2 at Portman Road in the Premier League last season, and the St. Mary's Premier League match in September 2024 finished 1-1. Go back further and Ipswich edged a 3-2 Championship win in April 2024, with Southampton nicking a 1-0 in the reverse the previous September. These two don't exactly produce dull games: four of the last five have featured goals for both sides.
The Betting Angle
Southampton at 2.32 to win at home against a side with a shaky recent away record is where the value sits. The FA Cup semi-final hangover is a real concern, but Eckert's side have shown they can bounce back quickly, and their home record this season is strong: W12 D7 L3. Ipswich's 0-0 at West Brom and the losses at Portsmouth show they can go missing on the road, especially when opponents press high and early.
Armstrong and Azaz are both in form, the crowd at St. Mary's will be roaring after a cup run that went right to the last four, and Ipswich are coming in without Davis to unlock things from the left. The home side's injury absences are a worry, but the overall squad depth and home advantage tip this for me.
Odds: 2.32 โ LiveScore Bet
Southampton's home record this season is one of the best in the division, and Ipswich arrive with key creative players missing and inconsistent away form. The cup exit could spark a reaction rather than a hangover, and with Armstrong and Azaz both in double figures for the season, Saints have the firepower to make it count.