Ipswich Town to host Sunderland at Portman Road in Premier League Matchweek 1 on Aug 22
Ipswich Town will host Sunderland at Portman Road in Suffolk in Matchweek 1 of the Premier League on Sunday, 22 August; kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. IST. The meeting pits newly promoted Ipswich, who finished second in the Championship last season, against a Sunderland side preparing for European competition.
Ed Sheeran’s Ipswich Town returned to the top flight after finishing second in the Championship and have added Julio Enciso and Ouattara from Strasbourg plus Sasa Lukic from Fulham to their squad. They are managed by Gary O’Neil, who “also made a move from Strasbourg to Suffolk and has previously managed Wolves and Bournemouth in the English top flight,” and have won their last four friendlies against Wycombe, Le Havre, Rayo Vallecano and Union Berlin.
Sunderland, having secured promotion and a berth in the UEFA Europa League last season, are led by French gaffer Regis Le Bris, who took charge in 2024. The Black Cats have signed Thomas Meunier from Lille and Nilson Angulo from Anderlecht and ended their pre-season with wins over Lens, Rennes and Wrexham.
Ipswich’s defence is set to feature a Cottingham-born English defender alongside Moroccan centre-back Issa Diop, with the former Hull City defender said to have joined Ipswich in 2024 and established himself in the starting lineup. A commanding, left-footed central defender, Greaves has led Ipswich’s backline over the last two years and will be tasked with keeping a clean sheet against Sunderland’s attack; Dutch midfielder Azor Matusiwa is doubtful after picking up a muscle injury.
Sunderland will rely on Dutch striker Brobbey, described in the preview as a Dutch striker from Amsterdam who played for Ajax and RB Leipzig before moving to Sunderland in 2025. The article states Brobbey played a prominent role at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, scoring a brace against Sweden for Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands and is viewed as an explosive, relentless front man dangerous in transition.
Form lines provided in the preview list Ipswich (in all competitions): W-W-W-W-L and Sunderland (in all competitions): W-W-W-L-L. The projected lineups published in the preview are: Kjell Scherpen (GK); Dara O’Shea, Issa Diop, Jacob Greaves, Leif Davis; Marcelino Núñez, Florentino Luís; Abdul Fatawu, Sindre Walle Egeli, Daizen Maeda; Emersonn — and Robin Roefs (GK); Thomas Meunier, Luke O’Nien, Daniel Ballard, Reinildo Mandava; Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki; Trai Hume, Enzo Le Fée, Nilson Angulo; Brian Brobbey.
The preview lists injury absences and doubts: for the hosts Azor Matusiwa is doubtful with a muscle injury; for Sunderland Thomas Meunier, Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete are set to miss the next game. The article’s prediction for the fixture is Ipswich Town 1-2 Sunderland AFC.
The match will be played at Portman Road Stadium in Suffolk, UK, on Sunday, 22 August, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. IST; the preview notes the game can be streamed on JioStar in India and on Sky Sports in the UK.
