Ipswich Town’s relegation from the Championship has been a long drawn-out affair in what has been a disastrous campaign with the drop down to League One being a foregone conclusion for the majority of the season.
Former manager, Paul Hurst, was sacked after steering his side to just 1 win from 15 matches (with a 6.7% win rate) but he could be excused for feeling a little hard done by as Ipswich have stuck by replacement manager, Paul Lambert who has overseen just 3 wins from his 31 matches in charge (with a 9.7% win rate).
Arguably, Ipswich may have well have stuck with Hurst as the Tractor Boys seemingly threw in the towel at about the midway stage in the season, and they head into the final day of the season on the back of just 1 win from their last 18 matches overall in the Championship.
In addition, goals have been in short supply for the Ipswich fans at Portman Road which has been the icing on a particularly appalling cake, with 17 of the Tractor Boys’ 22 home matches resulting in under 2.5 goals.
Leeds United are in grave danger of imploding in dramatic fashion as the Yorkshire club make their way down to East Anglia on the back of three matches without a win in the Championship which has already cost them an automatic promotion spot.
Defeats to Wigan Athletic and Brentford effectively saw them blow the promotion spot.
On Boxing Day, Leeds United recorded their seventh league win on the trot in the second tier with a 3-2 home win over Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road and the visitors looked in the driving seat for automatic promotion as they sat top of the Championship with a three point cushion ahead of 2nd placed Norwich City.
Although Leeds continued to gain wins on a regular basis thereafter, they could never string a decent run of victories together again as inconsistency started to seep in to Marcelo Bielsa’s side and this ultimately cost them a top two finish in the Championship.
The weight of expectation has become almost unbearable at Elland Road so perhaps it’s just as well that Leeds United’s final match of the season is away from home, but they’ll still need a result here as they look to take the most favourable play-off spot ahead of West Brom.
Half of Leeds United’s 22 away matches have resulted in under 2.5 goals but the wind has been taken out of their sails in recent weeks, so a low scoring game could be on the cards at Portman Road on Sunday.