Chris Sutton drops prediction for Coventry City v Ipswich Town clash | OneFootball

The former Blackburn and Celtic man believes the Premier League side will come out on top in this Saturday clash, but only just.

Former FA Cup semi-finalist, Chris Sutton, believes Coventry City's cup run will end this weekend at the hands of a visiting Ipswich Town.

In a regular feature with BBC Sport, the striker-turned-pundit tipped that despite Frank Lampard's side coming into the game in better form than their opponents, Premier League prowess may prove too much for the home side.

The Sky Blues are hoping to continue building their reputation as cup specialists, having come agonisingly close to reaching the final in last year's tournament, losing on penalties to eventual winners Manchester United.

Ipswich Town, however, have a much less glamourous modern history in the world's oldest cup tournament, and will be hoping they can reach the fifth round for the first time since 2007.

With the Tractor Boys' presumably more focused on top-flight survival, and their West Midlands hosts gunning for play-off contention, it could be assumed that neither side will be distraught at an exit, though with the prospect of a last-16 berth on the table, rest assured this will be a hotly contested tie.

Ipswich Town "need a result to kick on" says Chris Sutton

The Suffolk side come into this game on the back of four successive Premier League defeats, the nadir of which undoubtedly being a home loss to bottom-placed Southampton last weekend.

While conceding that form suggests the Championship side could rightly go into this tie with confidence, Chris Sutton believes that, regardless of competition, Ipswich need a victory to improve confidence going forward.

"Ipswich are on a terrible run in the Premier League" Sutton told BBC Sport. "With their worst result coming with their home defeat by Southampton on Saturday.

Coventry have been doing much better under Frank Lampard in the Championship, winning four games in a row before they lost to leaders Leeds on Wednesday.

"On the face of it, this looks like a possible upset, especially if Ipswich rest players, but I actually think they will go strong.

"The Tractor Boys are a team who need a result to kick on after losing their past four matches.

Kieran McKenna's side have got games coming up against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United and they need to win a game first to give themselves some confidence and try to find some rhythm again."

An interesting take from Sutton who, having been relegated in his career with both Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City, will undoubtedly be speaking from experience regarding the psychology of a drop-threatened side.

Coventry City will be hoping for a repeat of 2019 tie

Surprisingly, despite their standing in the pyramid at present, the meeting of these two sides was a third-tier fixture as recently as 2020.

The 2019-20 campaign saw Ipswich and Coventry face-off as many as four times, as aside from both competing in League One, they were drawn together in the second round of that season's FA Cup.

Ipswich Town appeared to have snatched what would have been, at the time, a surprising 1-0 win. However, Callum O'Hare's 94th minute strike at the CBS Arena sent the tie to a replay back at Portman Road.

An early two-goal lead was held on to, as Mark Robins and co. left as 2-1 victors. Ipswich would fail to get the better of the Sky Blues on each of the four occasions, as Cov secured promotion in a curtailed COVID campaign.

Just over four years on, the tie is, on paper, an entirely different prospect. Ipswich Town will be hoping to expel the demons 2019, as they desperately attempt to regain their confidence ahead of an all important late-season run-in.