Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town: Key stats and talking points

BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Saturday’s match between Crystal Palace and Ipswich (15:00 BST), with newly promoted Town hoping to avoid a third consecutive defeat.

Mitchell making his mark

Crystal Palace earned their first Premier League win under Pierre Sage by beating Fulham 3-2 last weekend, but the head coach was notably magnanimous afterwards, admitting he was “disappointed for the other team and the coach, they had opportunities too”.

He was at it again following Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win over Middlesbrough when, as against the Cottagers, Palace prevailed despite their opponents having significantly more possession. Sage stressed Boro were “a really good team”, adding: “I want to congratulate them – the score is for us, but they played well.”

The next target for the fair-minded Frenchman is to help his side secure back-to-back top-flight wins for the first time this calendar year.

The Eagles’ defence has not particularly shone of late, conceding two or more goals in nine consecutive league matches, an unwanted club record. But defenders were the heroes at Craven Cottage, with wing-back Tyrick Mitchell scoring the first double of his career and his second-half replacement, Ben Chilwell, hitting the winner.

Mitchell often had to rein in his forward runs under Oliver Glasner, with the buccaneering Daniel Munoz providing more of an attacking outlet on the opposite flank.

But with the Colombian having followed Glasner to Nottingham Forest, Mitchell appears to have greater licence to push up the pitch and has registered 10 touches in the opposition box, the joint most among Premier League defenders this season.

Tractor Boys seek to cut out mistakes

After marking their Premier League return with a morale-boosting opening-weekend win over Sunderland, Ipswich have been brought back down to earth, perhaps predictably, by defeats against Manchester United and Liverpool.

But the Blues’ first-half performance at Old Trafford and second-half display against the Merseysiders provided crumbs of comfort for Gary O’Neil. The Town boss, who took over in June, insisted there “were a lot of very good signs” in his side’s response after conceding twice in the opening nine minutes against Liverpool.

However, O’Neil admits the defensive mistakes Town have made in their past two games must be tidied up, warning that they can “kill” a side’s Premier League prospects.

That was certainly the case when Ipswich were relegated in 2024-25, and the Portman Road side have now gone 22 top-flight matches without a clean sheet, conceding 57 goals during that run.

Captain Dara O’Shea played every minute at centre-back in the Championship last season, but has been deployed at right-back this term following the arrival of Issa Diop. The Irishman said this week that he has no problem playing on the right, but if the Blues continue to leak goals, O’Neil may have to consider restoring him to his preferred position.