Premier League 24/25: Ipswich squad, staring XI and odds

Now the 2024/25 Premier League season is mid-way through, Ladbrokes takes you through Ipswich's squad, their chances of staying in the division and what their starting XI has been.

Despite playing a League One fixture as recently as May 2023, Ipswich are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2002 after securing one of the automatic promotion places in the Championship during the 2023/24 season.

With Kieran McKenna at the helm, and a few smart signings already through the door, Ipswich will be hoping that they can remain in the Premier League after securing back-to-back promotions to England's top-flight in the last two seasons, but it won't be easy.

With all that said, Ladbrokes takes you through Ipswich's squad for the current Premier League season, what their starting XI has been, and their odds of staying in the division.

As is the case with many teams that come up from the Championship, Ipswich's roster for the 2024/25 season looks quite different from the one that secured the side promotion to the Premier League.

• Christian Walton, Cieran Slicker, Arijanet Muric
• Harry Clarke, Leif Davis, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess, Elkan Baggott, Axel Tuanzebe, Janoi Donacien, Jacob Greaves, Ben Johnson, Conor Townsend, Dara O'Shea
• Sam Morsy, Wes Burns, Jack Taylor, Massimo Luongo, Cameron Humphreys, Omari Hutchinson, Kalvin Phillips, Jens Cajuste
• Conor Chaplin, Ali Al-Hamadi, George Hirst, Nathan Broadhead, Liam Delap, Sammie Szmodics, Jack Clarke, Chiedozie Ogbene
  

As noted, Ipswich have already completed a few smart transfers which the club's board are hoping will help ensure their Premier League safety come May 2025.

Omari Hutchinson joins Ipswich from Chelsea as the club's marquee signing of the summer. The ex-Arsenal youngster spent last season on loan with McKenna's side in the Championship, and the deal has now been made permanent.

Jacob Greaves joins from Hull as a talented player from the Championship, with Liam Delap also completing a permanent move from Man City, potentially also with an eye to the future.

Also joining from Man City is Kalvin Phillips, this time on a loan deal, whilst Sammie Szmodics signed on the same day from Blackburn on a permanent deal, having starred in the Championship last year.

Jack Clarke, formerly of Tottenham, has also joined from Sunderland. The highly-rated winger is expected to prove why he has been regarded as one of the Championship's most exciting talents for quite a few years now.

Jens Cajuste has signed from Napoli, and while it's only a loan deal as of now, the move is expected to have a clause which makes it permanent if Ipswich remain in the Premier League and beat the drop.

Providing some vital Premier League experience are Ben Johnson, who joins from West Ham after his deal with the Hammers expired, Arijanet Muric, who spent the second half of last season as Burnley's first choice goalkeeper, Conor Towsend, who played in the top-flight for West Brom a few seasons ago and Dara O'Shea, who only just got relegated with Burnley in May.

Chiedozie Ogbene has also joined the club from Luton, having impressed for the Hatters last season in his first campaign in the Premier League, with the Irishman able to play on the wing or as a right wing-back in a back five.

As for the outgoings, Freddie Ladapo, Kayden Jackson and Dominic Ball were released, along with Vaclav Hladcky. Sone Aluko has now retired following the expired of his Ipswich contract too.

Gassan Ahadme joined Charlton on a permanent deal, with Idris El Mizouni moving to Oxford on a permanent basis as well. Corrie Ndaba also departed the club, joining Kilmarnock in Scotland, while Elkan Baggott moves to Blackpool on loan. Leaving late in the window on loan were Leon Ayinde, Marcus Harness, George Edmundson to Rochdale, Derby and Middlesbrough.

Brandon Williams returned from his loan spell from Man United, and whilst some thought he'd be signed as a free agent, Ipswich opted for Johnson instead.

Perhaps the biggest coup of the summer for Ipswich though was retaining McKenna as their manager. Despite interest from Brighton and Champions League-cashing Chelsea, the Tractor Boys managed to sign the ex-Man United assistant down to a new deal.

It's always hard to predict how a side coming up from the Championship will line up in the Premier League. Ipswich, for example, played an attractive brand of football to secure promotion to England's top-flight, but some will argue they need to be more conservative when coming up against the likes of Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

However, we expect Muric to start in goal, with Johnson definitely brought in to be the first-choice right-back. Leif Davis will continue at left-back, with the ex-Leeds defender being so impressive that some were even calling for him to be included in England's Euro 2024 squad.

The centre-backs are expected to be two of Luke Woolfenden and Axel Tuanzebe, Greaves and O'Shea, with the two new signings potentially forcing their into the starting XI once their fully settled into life at Ipswich.

Should they play a back five, Chiedozie Ogbene could come in, able to provide some stability, pace and attacking threat from right wing-back.

We're predicting a midfield two of Phillips and captain Sam Morsy or even Cajuste, with Wes Burns, Szmodics and Hutchinson forming an attacking trio in front of the double sixes, with Clarke able to come in when needed.

As for the striker, Conor Chaplin will likely be the main starting striker, with Delap coming into the XI, and off the bench, as and when McKenna sees fit.

Unfortunately for Ipswich, the bookies seem them as one of the favourites to be playing Championship football next season, with McKenna's side having a 80% chance of straight back down from England's top-flight.

Interestingly, Man City are at 12/1 to go down, but that's because of a potential points deduction that could come their way following the resolution of their 115 charges case.

Ipswich had very little time to settle into the Premier League, as their first game in England's top-flight in over 20 years saw them lost 2-0 to Liverpool at Portman Road in the first 12:30 kickoff of the season.

Ipswich fans will have been hoping for an easier second fixture, but that wasn't the case, as their first away game of the season saw them travel to reigning champions Man City, who are favourites to win the Premier League once again, where they lost 4-1.

Fellow newly promoted side Southampton hosted Ipswich on September 21, with that game ending in a 1-1 draw, before 2023/24 Championship winners Leicester travelled to Portman Road on November 2, drawing that game 1-1 as well.

A week later, Ipswich travelled to London for a game against Tottenham, shocking the world by beating them 2-1. That came before Ipswiched host Man United following the final international break of 2024 two weeks later on November 23, holding Ruben Amorim to a 1-1 draw in his first game as Red Devils boss.

It was a tricky few games around the Christmas period for Ipswich, as they lost 1-0 to Arsenal away on Boxing Day before faving another London club in the form of Chelsea on December 30, but they managed to win that 2-0.

Ipswich then played Man City at home on January 19, losing 6-0. That came the week before they travelled to Anfield to play Liverpool away on January 25, this time losing 4-1. A slightly kinder fixture against Southampton then awaited them on February 1, but ended in a 2-1 loss.

Ipswich then faced Tottenham at home and Man United away in back-to-back games on February 22 and 26 respectively, which ended in 4-1 and 3-2 losses respectively, before facing Chelsea on April 12.

Ipswich then play Arsenal on April 19 at home before hosting Brentford on May 10, travelling to Leicester on May 18 and having West Ham visit them in what will be their final three games of the 2024/25 season.

Ladbrokes recently looked at the odds for each of the 20 teams competing in the Premier League this season, starting with Man City and working our way down to Ipswich and Southampton, who the bookies have given a 0.13% chance of winning England's top-flight come May 2025.

View the latest football odds.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.