Manchester City host Ipswich aiming to build on strong recent form
Manchester City return to home soil on Saturday to face Ipswich in a Premier League fixture that pits one of the division's in-form sides against a visiting team searching for consistency. The match kicks off at 14:00 UTC at the Etihad Stadium, with City looking to respond immediately after their first defeat in five matches.
Form lines tell different stories
City arrive on the back of four wins in their last five league outings, with the sole blemish being their most recent result. That run of form has kept them firmly among the division's leading sides this season. Ipswich, by contrast, have managed only two wins from their last five, with three defeats mixed in, leaving them with plenty of work to do to find rhythm.
The gap between the two sides' recent win tallies is stark — four victories for City compared with two for Ipswich across their last five matches each — and it underlines the scale of the task facing the visitors as they travel to Manchester.
History favours the hosts
The two previous meetings between these clubs have gone emphatically City's way. Last season's reverse fixture at Portman Road finished 6-0 in City's favour, following a 4-1 win for City when the sides met at the Etihad the previous August. Those results will offer little comfort to Ipswich as they prepare for another trip into City territory, even allowing for the shifting fortunes of a new campaign.