- 1 Ipswich Town vs Sunderland: a promoted side up against a team that has already made it back to the top flight
- 2 Ipswich Town: a promoted side that must fix its biggest weakness
- 3 Sunderland: a well-drilled side with a clear focal point up top
- 4 Premier League Prediction Ipswich Town vs Sunderland
- 5 First, a note on our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Ipswich Town vs Sunderland: a promoted side up against a team that has already made it back to the top flight 
Sunderland finished last season in 7th place with 54 points in their first campaign back in the Premier League. Ipswich, meanwhile, are only just back up from the Championship after another promotion.
That gap in recent experience shapes the whole picture. One club has already shown it can live at this level; the other still has to prove it.
Ipswich’s last spell in the top flight also hangs over this one. In their 2024-25 Premier League campaign, they managed just one home win all season.
The head-to-head record tells a different story. The last five meetings, all in the Championship or League One, produced two wins apiece and a draw, with tight scorelines throughout.
The detail is worth noting. Sunderland won 2-0 in November 2021 and 1-0 in January 2021, while Ipswich beat them 2-1 at home in January 2024 after a 2-1 victory at the Stadium of Light in August 2023.
Portman Road also went Ipswich’s way in the last meeting between the sides: 2-1 on 13 January 2024. The ground is still the Tractor Boys’ biggest weapon for this season opener.
Kick-off is on Saturday 22 August at 15:00 UK time, 16:00 in France, at Portman Road. Bet365 makes Sunderland 13/8, or 2.63.
Ipswich Town: a promoted side that must fix its biggest weakness 
The club is back in the Premier League after an immediate return from the Championship. The momentum is there. The jump is still huge.
The number that should worry the staff is from 2024-25: one home win across the entire Premier League season. That’s the area they have to sort if they want to stay up.
Portman Road should still be their main asset this weekend. A first-day home game against a beatable opponent is exactly the kind of chance Ipswich wasted last time around.
The likely line-up has Emersonn up front, with Jack Clarke and Daizen Maeda either side of him. Sasa Lukic and Marc Nunez are expected to anchor the midfield in a double pivot.
The concern is on the left side of defence. Leif Davis, who loves to get forward, picked up five yellow cards and a red in his last Premier League season with the club.
That attacking instinct leaves space behind him. Against a side built to counter, that lane could be one of the key battlegrounds.
The market has spotted the danger too. A Leif Davis booking is priced at 5/1, which says plenty about how often he gets caught on the back foot when he has to sprint home.
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Sunderland: a well-drilled side with a clear focal point up top 
The 7th-place finish last season, with 54 points, is the best reference on offer in this match. Few promoted teams manage a first Premier League campaign as strong as Sunderland’s.
That result did not come from flashy attacking play. It came from a hard-to-break defensive shape. Sunderland built their finish by refusing to lose the tight games.
Brian Brobbey leads the line and is the Black Cats’ main threat. His presence in the box gives the side a reliable outlet on direct transitions.
Behind him, the expected midfield includes Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fee and Habib Sadiki. It is a unit that mixes top-level experience with the ability to keep the ball away from danger.
Out wide, Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi bring the pace to attack the space left behind. That is exactly the kind of profile that can punish Leif Davis when he goes too far forward.
The bookmakers have Sunderland as slight favourites for this trip. The logic is simple enough: they arrive with a full extra year of top-flight adaptation.
The side markets add to the picture. Brian Brobbey to score anytime is 15/8, over 2.5 goals is 10/11 and both teams to score is 4/6.
Probable Ipswich Town XI: Scherpen ; Davis, Diop, O’Shea, Greaves ; Nunez, Lukic ; Maeda, Clarke, Egeli ; Emersonn
Probable Sunderland XI: Roefs ; O’Nien, Mandava, Ballard, Hume ; Xhaka, Le Fee, Sadiki ; Adingra, Talbi ; Brobbey
Premier League Prediction Ipswich Town vs Sunderland
Our prediction: Sunderland win
The main argument is Ipswich’s home record at the higher level: just one win at Portman Road across their last Premier League season. A promoted side does not fix that kind of problem in game one.
The second point is Sunderland’s collective maturity. They finished 7th with 54 points on the back of a well-organised block, and they can field Xhaka and Le Fee in midfield, two players used to controlling awkward matches.
At 13/8, or 2.63, Sunderland look a fair price for a side with an extra year of experience at this level and a genuine finisher in Brobbey.
The correct score, 1-2 to the visitors at 6/1, fits the script. Tight game. Decided by the experience gap in the last 20 minutes.
Take Sunderland to win.
in your pocket.
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