At the end of Ipswich Town’s thoroughly dominant 3-0 win over Hull City on the 3rd of October which sent them to the top of the Championship, a surging sense of hope swirled around Portman Road. Perhaps it was the strong gale coming off the River Orwell on which the town is situated, but it felt like this was a club that was set to take off. The reality is that might well happen as the club sets its eyes on the most lucrative league in the world.
The startling numbers behind Ipswich's form
The victory over Hull was Ipswich’s eighth win in their first ten games of the 2023/2024 season and until a loss to Leeds United on the 26th of August, the Blues were exhibiting the best form in Europe.
While there was a feeling that the defeat to Daniel Farke’s men may put an end to Ipswich's bright start, a further six wins from their next seven games following the reverse to Leeds was the clearest indication yet that the club had the credentials needed for promotion.
Crucially, this is a sentiment that is shared by the bookmakers providing the latest odds for promotion to the Premier League. For example, Premierbet Cameroon has priced Ipswich at odds of just -104 to go up at the conclusion of this campaign.
It should, though, be noted that the season is still in its infancy. Conventional wisdom states that making predictions before the clocks go back is usually a foolish pastime, however, this is a club benefiting from extraordinary momentum.
Put differently, it’s unlikely that this run of form will fizzle out as the Tractor Boys proved that they have the engine needed for a successful promotion drive after finishing second in League One last season.
During this campaign, Ipswich scored 101 goals - the most out of any team in the whole of the English Football League. Having netted 21 goals after the opening ten games this season, the Blues have so far outscored the rest of the Championship and Premier League.
Again, this isn’t a coincidence, but rather a sign that the Portman Road club is picking up where it left off at the end of the 22/23 campaign.
So, how are Ipswich able to blaze the trail to the degree they are? In short, the answer is manager Kieran McKenna, whose progressive front-foot philosophy has allowed the Tractor Boys to steamroll the opposition.
McKenna has Tractor Boys on course for the land of milk and honey
At the time of writing, McKenna has overseen 55 wins in 92 games, while registering 24 draws and just 13 losses since his appointment in December 2021. This gives the Northern Irishman an outstanding record of 2.05 points per game, which is a return that will guarantee Ipswich's automatic promotion to the Premier League should this ratio continue.
It’s easy to see why Portman Road was in party mode following the mauling of the Tigers on the 3rd of October. This is a club that knows how to win and intends to do so for the rest of the Championship season. Whisper it softly, but it looks increasingly likely that Premier League soccer will return to Ipswich for the first time since 2002.
