Two sides at opposite ends of the Championship table will meet at Portman Road on Saturday, as Sheffield Wednesday entertain Ipswich Town.
Having both won promotion from League One last season, the visitors find themselves second having won four of their five second-tier outings prior to the recent international break, while their hosts have only managed a single point from their five games thus far.
Match preview
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After winning promotion from League One through the playoffs in dramatic fashion under Darren Moore last season, Sheffield Wednesday have not experienced the start to life back in the Championship that they would have hoped for, with Moore departing over the summer and being replaced by Xisco Munoz.
The Owls had to wait to get off the mark on their return to England's second tier, eventually suffering a 2-1 defeat to newly-relegated Southampton in their curtain-raiser, before a penalty shootout triumph over Stockport County in the EFL Cup was followed by a 4-2 loss away at Hull City, with Ozan Tufan netted a brace after Juan Delgado had initially put Munoz's men ahead.
The South Yorkshire outfit again fell short in their search for a first point at home to Preston North End, with Liam Lindsay netting the only goal, before the losing run was stretched to four league outings in agonising fashion, as their contest away at Cardiff City looked set to end level at a goal apiece thanks to Barry Bannan's equaliser, only for the visitors to win a penalty deep into injury time, with Ryan Wintle converting to deny them a share of the spoils.
Then on the back of an exit from the EFL Cup at the hand of fourth-tier Mansfield Town, the Owls' most recent league outing was a tough trip to Yorkshire rivals Leeds United at the start of September, and they stood strong at Elland Road to get off the mark at the fifth attempt with a goalless draw.
With the international break having halted their tough start to the Championship campaign, Xisco's men will hope to come back stronger and score a first league win of the term on Saturday, although they face another difficult test against the side who pipped them to automatic promotion last year.
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Ipswich Town returned to the Championship this season having ended a four-year stay in League One in style last time around under the management of Kieran McKenna, as they finished second with 98 points while also boasting the third tier's best attacking and defensive records, scoring 101 goals while only conceding 35 in 46 outings.
The Tractor Boys enjoyed a seamless transition, too, immediately putting themselves in the leading pack as they won their first three league outings of the new campaign, starting with a 2-1 triumph away at Sunderland thanks to goals from George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead, before Luke Woolfenden and Kayden Jackson got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 beating of Stoke City at Portman Road.
Conor Chaplin would then net the only goal of the game as they made it three in a row away at Queens Park Rangers, before McKenna's men suffered a first setback in a dramatic contest at home to Leeds United, eventually losing 4-3 despite initially going ahead through a Joe Rodon own goal, as the visitors went 3-1 and 4-2 up with Chaplin's goal coming too late to force a turnaround.
Following that first loss and a return to winning ways in the EFL Cup against Reading after a penalty shootout, Ipswich most recently met Cardiff City before the recent international break and they went 2-0 down on home turf as Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ralls found the net for the Bluebirds, but McKenna's men fought back and took all three points, as Broadhead initially pulled a goal back on the hour mark before Freddie Ladapo netted a brace off the bench to complete the turnaround.
Such a result saw the newly-promoted Tractor Boys head into the break with 12 points on the board from their opening five outings, and now refreshed following the weekend off, they will look to pick up where they left off and make it five wins from six on Saturday with the chance to retake top spot.
Team News
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After lining his new side up in a 4-3-3 shape at the start of the new campaign, Xisco Munoz switched to a more conservative shape for the trip to Leeds, and after securing a first clean sheet and point of the campaign, he will likely stick with that setup, featuring Akin Famewo and summer signings Bambo Diaby and Di'Shon Bernard in the middle of a back five.
That meant the Owls were left with just two midfield spots at Elland Road, and if the same system is deployed again, George Byers and Barry Bannan will be tough to displace, although they do face competition with Will Vaulks, Tyreeq Bakinson and deadline day signings Jeff Hendrick and John Buckley all hoping to feature, while Momo Diaby will miss an extended period through injury after his recent arrival on loan from Portimonense.
Michael Smith led the line in that game with support from Lee Gregory and Josh Windass, and Munoz could again deploy that trio despite competition from Ashley Fletcher and winger Anthony Musaba.
With quality and depth all over the pitch, Kieran McKenna has several decisions to make with his Ipswich Town starting XI in their 4-2-3-1 setup, including up front with Freddie Ladapo having a strong claim to come in after his decisive brace off the bench in their win over Cardiff before the break, with George Hirst having been preferred as the lone striker from the start in the early stages of the campaign.
Whichever lone striker is deployed will have support from the threatening trio of Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead, after they contributed a combined tally of 46 goals in all competitions last season, with Chaplin netting 29 of those including a league-high tally of 26 in England's third tier.
Behind them, Massimo Luongo and captain Sam Morsy should both keep their places in the engine room for the Tractor Boys, while Luke Woolfenden and Christian Burgess will reform their centre-back partnership in front of goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky, who continues to deputise in Christian Walton's absence.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Paterson, Bernard, Diaby, Famewo, Delgado; Bannan, Byers; Windass, Smith, Gregory
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Hladky; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead; Hirst
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Ipswich Town
The draw away at Leeds before the break should provide Sheffield Wednesday with some cause for optimism, but they are yet to truly get going under new management this season, while the visitors have adjusted seamlessly to life back in the second tier.
With momentum on their side and arguably more quality throughout the squad, we fancy the Tractor Boys to make it five wins from six league games on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
