Ipswich Town sit 17th in the Premier League table after taking three points from their opening five games. How many will they get from their next five? Stuart Watson makes some predictions..
. Ollie Watkins celebrates after scoring in Aston Villa's 3-1 win against Wolves last weekend. (Image: PA) Who: Aston Villa Where: Portman Road When: Sunday, September 29 (2pm KO) Half of Town’s opening six matches back in the Premier League will have been against teams competing in the Champions League.
Talk about a baptism of fire! The Blues had Liverpool on the back foot for the best part of an hour on an electric opening day at Portman Road before getting clinically picked off by Mo Salah and co. It ended 2-0, but the damage could have been greater. A mistake-laden five-minute spell at Man City was then ruthlessly punished, as a shock early lead was quickly turned into a 3-1 deficit by the 16th minute.
The four-in-a-row champions subsequently cruised to a 4-1 victory. Kieran McKenna's men now need to try and put the lessons learnt from those two games into practice against Aston Villa. That's easier said than done.
Unai Emery led the Midlands club to the Europa Conference League semis and a fourth-place finish last season and has since strengthened his squad. Key men like Emiliano Martinez (a World Cup winning keeper), centre-back Pau Torres (a 24-cap Spain international) and England striker Ollie Watkins (27 goals last season) remain. Douglas Luiz has been replaced by Belgian powerh.
