Aston Villa will be looking to make it five Premier League wins from six matches when they travel to Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon.
It’s been an excellent start to the campaign for Aston Villa, who have won all but one of their matches in all competitions; a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League.
The Villans progressed into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night after beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 while Unai Emery’s attention will be firmly on next week’s Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich.
Up first, though, is newly-promoted Ipswich who are seeking their first win of the season after drawing three of their opening five games.
Kieran McKenna’s side have shown a lot of attacking threat on their return to the top flight but have failed to convert their chances into wins.
Unsurprisingly, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Roy Keane agree that Villa will comfortably beat Ipswich this weekend, with Paul Merson also sharing his prediction.
Paul Merson predicts the result of Ipswich Town vs Aston Villa
A telling week awaits for Aston Villa, who travel to Ipswich before hosting Bayern and Manchester United in the space of four days.
This will be when Emery’s squad will be truly tested to its limits, as Carragher thinks Villa will struggle to maintain their levels in the Premier League while competing in Europe.
Merson acknowledges that the clash against Bayern next Wednesday will be at the back of the players’ minds but he’s warned them not to get too distracted and expects full focus to be on the trip to Portman Road.
Predicting a 2-0 win for Emery’s men, Merson wrote in his column for Sportskeeda: “Aston Villa are flying at the moment. They play Bayern Munich in the Champions League at Villa Park after this game, who would’ve thought that 10 years ago?
“They can’t get distracted by that game because they have to sort this out first. You don’t want to be the first team to be beaten by Ipswich. I actually feel Ipswich can cause problems to Villa early on in the game. But if the visitors can ride that early pressure and keep their attitude right, they will get over the line easily by the end of the game.
“I’m backing Villa to have the edge over the other teams to finish inside the top four this season. However, it also depends on how much they get involved in the Champions League, that’s a lot of games to deal with.
“Like I said, they must not let their European adventures become a distraction, that’s the challenge for Villa.”
Why Aston Villa must be wary of Ipswich
The points difference in the league table suggests an easy ride for the visitors but judging by how Ipswich have played so far, it’ll be anything but.
McKenna sets his side up to press the opposition high, and although that leaves gaps at the back, it can also cause the opposition problems.
Ipswich possess great pace in forward areas through the likes of Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson, with that duo looking to provide a spark through the middle.
The Tractor Boys will feel they can exploit Villa defensively, especially after watching them against Wolves and Everton, with Emery needing to guard against complacency.
Villa – as Merson said – should get the job done at Portman Road but there could be a few nervous moments, especially if the home crowd gets on top.
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