The last time Ipswich Town and Sunderland faced in the Premier League was in December 2001, a 5-0 victory for the Tractor Boys which is their biggest win in the competition.

Ipswich did the double over Sunderland when they last met in the 2023-24 Championship campaign – they’ve never won three consecutive league games against the Black Cats before.

Ipswich and Sunderland have met in the opening league game of the season in two previous top-flight campaigns – in 1981-82 they shared a 3-3 draw with the Tractor Boys ending the season in 2nd, while in 2001-02 the Black Cats won 1-0 in a season where Ipswich were relegated.

Ipswich Town have lost their opening game in each of their last four Premier League campaigns (1994-95, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2024-25) since a 3-0 win over Oldham Athletic in 1993-94.

Sunderland have won their opening league game in each of the last two seasons, beating Cardiff in 2024-25 and West Ham in 2025-26. The Black Cats last did so in three consecutive campaigns between 1950-51 and 1952-53.

In their most recent Premier League season (2024-25), Ipswich lost each of their final nine home league games. Only three sides have lost 10+ in a row at home in English top-flight history: Birmingham City (10 – Oct 1985 to Feb 1986), Sunderland (10 – Jan 2003 to Aug 2005), and Watford (11 – Dec 2021 to Apr 2022).

After winning their final two Premier League games last season, Sunderland are looking to win three in a row in the competition for the first time since May 2014 under Gus Poyet (4).

Ipswich’s Chuba Akpom last played a Premier League game in February 2015 for Arsenal against Tottenham. If he plays in this game, it will be the second-longest gap between appearances in the competition’s history (11 years, 196 days), after Cristiano Ronaldo’s 12 years and 118 days between 2009 and 2021.

New Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil won just two of his last 19 Premier League games in charge of Wolves between May and December 2024 (D3 L14). His last match in the competition was a 2-1 defeat against the Tractor Boys.

Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor scored for Sunderland in their opening game win over West Ham last season; the only players to score for the Black Cats on MD1 in back-to-back Premier League seasons are Darren Bent (2009-10/2010-11) and Jermain Defoe (2015-16/2016-17).