Ipswich Town v Sunderland

Gary O’Neil’s newly promoted Ipswich host Sunderland at Portman Road.

Ipswich finished runners-up in the Championship; Sunderland entered after a positive first season back in the Premier League.

The overall record is close — 21 meetings, Sunderland 10, Ipswich 8, three drawn — but the split by venue is not close at all, and it is the most useful thing in this section.

At Portman Road, where this match is played, Ipswich have won six of eleven, Sunderland two, with three draws. At the Stadium of Light the pattern reverses hard: Sunderland eight wins from ten, Ipswich two, and not a single draw.

In other words, this fixture has been decided by home advantage to an unusual degree, and the home side here is the one the table says is weaker.

The two clubs have met four times in the Premier League, splitting them two apiece, but those were in 2001 and 2002. Every meeting since has been in the Championship or League One — which is its own comment on where both clubs have spent the last two decades.

• Ipswich Town 2-1 Sunderland — Championship, January 2024.
• Sunderland 1-2 Ipswich Town — Championship, August 2023. Ipswich winning at the Stadium of Light, which the venue record says is rare.
• Ipswich Town 1-1 Sunderland — League One, December 2021.
• Sunderland 2-0 Ipswich Town — League One, November 2021.
• Ipswich Town 0-1 Sunderland — League One, January 2021.
• The last Premier League meeting between these clubs was in December 2001, when Ipswich won 5-0 at Portman Road.

Last season's league record, as a baseline rather than a prediction.

Ipswich Town were not in the Premier League in 2025/26 — promoted as Championship runners-up. Sunderland finished 7th in 2025/26 on 54 points (14W 12D 12L, 42 scored, 48 conceded).

BRYME is not publishing home-only and away-only splits for these sides yet. Those figures exist but have not been reconciled against an official source here, and a split quoted from memory is exactly the kind of number that quietly becomes wrong. The overall records above are verified against the final 2025/26 table; the home and away breakdowns will be added when sourced.

Provisional: Christian Walton was nearing a return from a foot issue. No major Sunderland absences were confirmed in the supplied snapshot.

No suspensions affecting either side have been confirmed for this fixture at the time of writing.

This is a statement about what has been confirmed, not a guarantee that both squads are fully available. Bans carried over from last season and any late disciplinary decisions are checked again on matchday, and this section is updated if that changes.

Ipswich must find early defensive solidity amid turnover; Sunderland’s settled shape is the counterpoint.

Ipswich have added several players and are still resolving their goalkeeper picture; Sunderland offer more continuity under Régis Le Bris.

The underdog label sits awkwardly here, and that is what makes it interesting.

Ipswich Town are the promoted side, up as Championship runners-up and back at this level after a single season away. Sunderland finished 7th on 54 points and qualified for the Europa League — but did so with a negative goal difference of −6, scoring only 42, the lowest of any side in the top half.

So the visitors are the higher-ranked team and the home side are the ones with something to prove, yet Sunderland's underlying numbers were the weakest of any European qualifier in the division. A promoted side at home against a team that overperformed its goal difference is a more even fixture than the table positions suggest.

Goalkeeper uncertainty and summer turnover are the key variables.

Ipswich Town 1–1 Sunderland