Ipswich Town began the 2026–27 Premier League opening weekend by hosting Sunderland.
The fixture was scheduled for Saturday, 22 August 2026, at Portman Road. Ipswich Town were one of the three clubs promoted to the Premier League for the 2026–27 season, alongside Coventry City and Hull City.
Ipswich returned to the top flight after one season away. Their opening opponent, Sunderland, was already a Premier League club in the 2026–27 lineup. The match therefore paired a returning side with an established top-flight team rather than two newly promoted clubs.
The other promoted clubs had different opening assignments. Coventry City hosted defending champions Arsenal on Friday, while Hull City hosted Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime. Those pairings make Ipswich versus Sunderland a useful test of close attention to the complete opening-round schedule.