Preview: Ipswich Town vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

Newly-promoted Ipswich Town begin life back in the Premier League with a Portman Road clash against Sunderland on the opening weekend of the 2026-27 season.

Saturday afternoon’s contest sees a Tractor Boys outfit who finished second in the Championship last term come up against a Black Cats side who secured seventh place in the top flight.

Match preview

After accumulating 84 points to secure automatic promotion from the Championship last season, Ipswich are now preparing for a new era under head coach Gary O'Neil, who has taken the baton from Kieran McKenna following the latter's successful four-year tenure at Portman Road.

O'Neil’s last match as a Premier League boss was coincidentally a 2-1 defeat to the Tractor Boys when he was in charge of Wolves, with his spell at Molineux ending in December 2024 following a run of just two wins in 19 top-flight games (D3 L14).

A positive start is therefore required for O'Neil to get the Ipswich fans onside. Thankfully for the 43-year-old, the club have backed him in the transfer market by spending in excess of £100m on 10 new arrivals, as they attempt to establish themselves as a Premier League outfit and avoid becoming a yo-yo club between the top two divisions.

Regarded by many as one of the favourites to suffer relegation this season, Ipswich have lost their opening fixture in each of their last four Premier League campaigns, while they were beaten in each of their final nine home league games of their most recent top-flight season in 2024-25.

To put that into perspective, only three teams in English top-flight history have lost 10 or more home matches in a row: Birmingham City (10 between October 1985 and February 1986), Sunderland (10 between January 2003 and August 2005) and Watford (11 between December 2021 and April 2022).

However, there is reason to be optimistic for the Tractor Boys on Saturday. Not only did they win their final four matches in pre-season, but they also did the double over Sunderland when they last butted heads in the 2023-24 Championship campaign. Furthermore, they recorded their biggest-ever PL win against the Black Cats with a 5-0 thrashing at Portman Road in December 2001.

Twelve months after winning the Championship playoff final, Sunderland were tipped for relegation by many last season, but they exceeded expectations and finished seventh in the Premier League to qualify for Europe for the first time since 1973.

A historic Europa League campaign awaits for Regis Le Bris, who steered the Black Cats to 14 wins and 12 draws in 38 Premier League games and justly remains at the helm despite bizarre speculation over his future towards the end of last season.

Much to the delight of Le Bris, Sunderland have managed to retain their star players during a vastly quieter window than last summer, with 34-year-old Belgium defender Thomas Meunier arriving on a free transfer as their sole new addition at the time of writing.

Seeking to build on last season’s success and fight off the threat of second-season syndrome, Sunderland head into the new campaign after winning four of their six pre-season friendlies and have won their opening league fixture in each of the last two seasons, last doing so in three successive campaigns between 1950-51 and 1952-53.

The Black Cats won their final two top-flight matches of last season against Everton and Chelsea, and they are now looking to win three games in a row in the division for the first time since May 2014 under former boss Gus Poyet (four).

Ipswich Town pre-season form:

Sunderland pre-season form:

Team News

Ipswich summer signings Florentino Luis and Abdul Fatawu are both nursing knock and will be assessed ahead of kickoff, while Jack Taylor (knee) and Azor Matusiwa (muscle) are also doubtful.

O’Neil could hand as many as six players their full debut, with 6ft 9in goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, right-back, Abdoul Ouattara, centre-back Issa Diop, midfielder Sasa Lukic, attacker Daizen Maeda and club-record arrival Emersonn all in contention to earn a place in the first XI.

Chuba Akpom is available but not expected to start this weekend. The forward last played a PL match in February 2015 for Arsenal against Spurs, and if he features against Sunderland, it will represent the second-longest gap between appearances in the division’s history (11 years, 196 days), after Cristiano Ronaldo’s 12 years and 118 days between 2009 and 2021.

As for Sunderland, Le Bris has confirmed that Nordi Mukiele, Omar Alderete and Meunier have all recovered from minor injuries and are available for selection, with Simon Adingra (ankle) the club’s only absentee.

Trai Hume featured regularLY as a right-winger in pre-season and could remain in the same attacking role this weekend, with Nilson Angulo, Chemsdine Talbi and Romain Mundle all battling for starts on the opposite flank.

Captain Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Enzo Le Fee are all primed to start in midfield, while Brian Brobbey is expected to lead the line, with Wilson Isidor providing cover as a substitute.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

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

Sunderland possible 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 sure to be rocking for Ipswich’s first game back in the big time, but it remains to be seen whether their influx of new signings can gel quickly enough to overcome a solid Sunderland outfit they have never beaten in three consecutive league games.

While the Black Cats should provide a stern opening-day test, the Tractor Boys may still do enough to frustrate the visitors and salvage a hard-earned point.

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