Ipswich Town opened the 2026–27 Premier League season by playing Sunderland.
Ipswich hosted Sunderland at Portman Road on Saturday 22 August 2026 and won 2–1. The match was one of three opening-round fixtures involving clubs promoted to the Premier League for the new season.
Ipswich Town had returned to the top flight after a one-year absence. Coventry City, the third promoted club, had been away for 25 years, while Hull City had been out of the division for nine years. The three promoted teams therefore had very different recent histories.
The wording can cause confusion because Sunderland were also a recently promoted club in the broader English football context, but the 2026–27 Premier League promoted trio was Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City. Sunderland faced Ipswich in the opening round but were not part of that promoted trio for this season.