Portman Road will host an intriguing Premier League contest on Friday night, as Ipswich Town welcome struggling Nottingham Forest.

Ipswich are 10th in the Premier League table, picking up nine points from their opening seven matches of the campaign, while Forest are down in 19th spot in the division on five points.

Match preview

Promoted Ipswich have been a good watch in England's top flight this season, boasting a record of three wins and four defeats from their opening seven Premier League matches of the campaign, while they have scored 11 times and conceded 15.

Nine points and a goal difference of minus four is actually good enough for 10th spot at this moment in time, and they are only one point off sixth-placed Brentford; a win on Friday night would move them above the Bees and into sixth, temporarily at least.

Gary O'Neil's side recorded a 2-1 win over Fulham in their last match in front of their own supporters on October 10, before losing 3-2 at Manchester City last weekend, but it was another encouraging performance from the Tractor Boys.

Ipswich will finish the month away to fellow promoted outfit Hull City, before starting November at home to a Bournemouth side that have struggled to get going this season.

The Tractor Boys have not actually beaten Forest since December 2017, with the Reds triumphing in five of the last six games between the two sides, remaining unbeaten in the process.

Forest posted a 4-2 win over Ipswich on their last trip to Portman Road in March 2025, and they have only lost once against the Tractor Boys away from home since March 2016, so recent history certainly favours the Reds in this particular contest.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a very disappointing start to the campaign for Oliver Glasner's side, with five points from seven matches leaving them down in 19th spot in the Premier League table.

Forest have a record of one win, two draws and four defeats in England's top flight this term, and they will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal, which proved to be a third defeat in a row for the struggling team.

Glasner's side were last victorious on September 12, winning away at Aston Villa, and they have incredibly not scored a home Premier League goal this season, with their stronger performances certainly coming on their travels.

Forest are the lowest goalscorers in the Premier League this season with five, but they do have stronger defensive record than Ipswich, conceding nine times to the home team's 15.

Ipswich Town Premier League form:

Ipswich Town form (all competitions):

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Team News

Sasa Lukic (groin) is expected to be cleared to return to the Ipswich squad on Friday, although a final decision on the midfielder's involvement has not yet been made.

Ipswich head coach O'Neil could name the same side that took to the field against Man City given the nature of the performance, which was impressive.

Zian Flemming came off the bench to score against Man City, with the striker netting for the second time this season, but Emersonn is likely to continue through the middle.

As for Forest, head coach Glasner is hopeful that Morgan Gibbs-White will overcome a muscular problem in order to be able to start against Ipswich on Friday.

However, Igor Jesus (calf) and Nicolo Savona (knee) are both out of the contest.

Liam Delap has only scored one Premier League goal for the club this season, but the striker is expected to continue in the starting XI at Portman Road against his former team.

Meanwhile, Daniel Munoz and Neco Williams will continue in the wing-back positions.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Walton; O'Shea, Diop, Greaves; Ouattara, Florentino, Palacios, Davis; Maeda, Emersonn, Enciso

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Cunha, Diomande, Murillo; Munoz, McAtee, Schlager, N Williams; Gibbs-White, Delap, Ndoye

We say: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest

This is a tough one to call; both teams were impressive in defeat last time out, and we are expecting Friday's match to be incredibly tight, with the points potentially being shared in a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.