Ipswich Town vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

Newly-promoted Ipswich Town statesman beingness backmost successful the Premier League with a Portman Road clash against Sunderland connected the opening play of the 2026-27 season.

Saturday afternoon’s contention sees a Tractor Boys outfit who finished 2nd successful the Championship past word travel up against a Black Cats broadside who secured seventh spot successful the apical flight.

Match preview

After accumulating 84 points to unafraid automatic promotion from the Championship past season, Ipswich are present preparing for a caller epoch nether caput manager Gary O'Neil, who has taken the baton from Kieran McKenna pursuing the latter's palmy four-year tenure astatine Portman Road.

O'Neil’s past lucifer arsenic a Premier League brag was coincidentally a 2-1 decision to the Tractor Boys erstwhile helium was successful complaint of Wolves, with his spell astatine Molineux ending successful December 2024 pursuing a tally of conscionable 2 wins successful 19 top-flight games (D3 L14).

A affirmative commencement is truthful required for O'Neil to get the Ipswich fans onside. Thankfully for the 43-year-old, the nine person backed him successful the transportation marketplace by spending successful excess of £100m connected 10 caller arrivals, arsenic they effort to found themselves arsenic a Premier League outfit and debar becoming a yo-yo nine betwixt the apical 2 divisions.

Regarded by galore arsenic 1 of the favourites to endure relegation this season, Ipswich person mislaid their opening fixture successful each of their past 4 Premier League campaigns, portion they were beaten successful each of their last 9 location league games of their astir caller top-flight play successful 2024-25.

To enactment that into perspective, lone 3 teams successful English top-flight past person mislaid 10 oregon much location matches successful a row: Birmingham City (10 betwixt October 1985 and February 1986), Sunderland (10 betwixt January 2003 and August 2005) and Watford (11 betwixt December 2021 and April 2022).

However, determination is crushed to beryllium optimistic for the Tractor Boys connected Saturday. Not lone did they triumph their last 4 matches successful pre-season, but they besides did the treble implicit Sunderland erstwhile they past butted heads successful the 2023-24 Championship campaign. Furthermore, they recorded their biggest-ever PL triumph against the Black Cats with a 5-0 thrashing astatine Portman Road successful December 2001.

Twelve months aft winning the Championship playoff final, Sunderland were tipped for relegation by galore past season, but they exceeded expectations and finished seventh successful the Premier League to suffice for Europe for the archetypal clip since 1973.

A historical Europa League run awaits for Regis Le Bris, who steered the Black Cats to 14 wins and 12 draws successful 38 Premier League games and justly remains astatine the helm contempt bizarre speculation implicit his aboriginal towards the extremity of past season.

Much to the delight of Le Bris, Sunderland person managed to clasp their prima players during a vastly quieter model than past summer, with 34-year-old Belgium defender Thomas Meunier arriving connected a escaped transportation arsenic their sole caller summation astatine the clip of writing.

Seeking to physique connected past season’s occurrence and combat disconnected the menace of second-season syndrome, Sunderland caput into the caller run aft winning 4 of their six pre-season friendlies and person won their opening league fixture successful each of the past 2 seasons, past doing truthful successful 3 successive campaigns betwixt 1950-51 and 1952-53.

The Black Cats won their last 2 top-flight matches of past play against Everton and Chelsea, and they are present looking to triumph 3 games successful a enactment successful the part for the archetypal clip since May 2014 nether erstwhile brag Gus Poyet (four).

Ipswich Town pre-season form:

Sunderland pre-season form:

Team News

Ipswich summertime signings Florentino Luis and Abdul Fatawu are some nursing sound and volition beryllium assessed up of kickoff, portion Jack Taylor (knee) and Azor Matusiwa (muscle) are besides doubtful.

O’Neil could manus arsenic galore arsenic six players their afloat debut, with 6ft 9in goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, right-back, Abdoul Ouattara, centre-back Issa Diop, midfielder Sasa Lukic, attacker Daizen Maeda and club-record accomplishment Emersonn each successful contention to gain a spot successful the archetypal XI.

Chuba Akpom is disposable but not expected to commencement this weekend. The guardant past played a PL lucifer successful February 2015 for Arsenal against Spurs, and if helium features against Sunderland, it volition correspond the second-longest spread betwixt appearances successful the division’s past (11 years, 196 days), aft Cristiano Ronaldo’s 12 years and 118 days betwixt 2009 and 2021.

As for Sunderland, Le Bris has confirmed that Nordi Mukiele, Omar Alderete and Meunier person each recovered from insignificant injuries and are disposable for selection, with Simon Adingra (ankle) the club’s lone absentee.

Trai Hume featured regularLY arsenic a right-winger successful pre-season and could stay successful the aforesaid attacking relation this weekend, with Nilson Angulo, Chemsdine Talbi and Romain Mundle each battling for starts connected the other flank.

Captain Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Enzo Le Fee are each primed to commencement successful midfield, portion Brian Brobbey is expected to pb the line, with Wilson Isidor providing screen arsenic a substitute.

Ipswich Town imaginable starting lineup:

Scherpen; Ouattara, O’Shea, Diop, Davis; Nunez, Lukic, Egeli; Fatawu, Emersonn, Maeda

Sunderland imaginable starting lineup:

Roefs; Mukiele, O’Nien, Ballard, Reinildo; Sadiki, Xhaka; Hume, Le Fee, Angulo; Brobbey

We say: Ipswich Town 1-1 Sunderland

Portman Road is definite to beryllium rocking for Ipswich’s archetypal crippled backmost successful the large time, but it remains to beryllium seen whether their influx of caller signings tin gel rapidly capable to flooded a coagulated Sunderland outfit they person ne'er beaten successful 3 consecutive league games.

While the Black Cats should supply a stern opening-day test, the Tractor Boys whitethorn inactive bash capable to frustrate the visitors and salvage a hard-earned point.

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