Sunderland begin their quest for another playoff push with a home clash against newly promoted Ipswich Town. The Black Cats looked decent in preseason and should have the upper hand over the visitors, who may struggle to immediately adapt to the second tier.
Sunderland caught the eye last season and have plenty of reasons to be pleased with their campaign. They lost to Luton Town in the playoff semi-finals and will be looking to go one better this time around.
The Black Cats impressed in the final weeks of the campaign and seemed to maintain their good form in preseason. They suffered just one defeat in seven warm-up games, claiming five wins in that run.
Although Sunderland failed to keep a single clean sheet in preseason, manager Tony Mowbray will be keen to channel their overall performance into the new campaign. They will also be looking to pick up from their showings in the final weeks of last season having lost just once in 11 matches, beating the likes of West Brom and Preston North End along the way.
Ipswich Town are returning to the Championship after a four year sojourn in League One. They were one of the best teams in the third tier and finished second in the standings after amassing an impressive 98 points.
The Pilgrims previous Championship campaign was a major disappointment as they finished bottom of the table with a paltry 31 points. Manager Kieran McKenna will be hoping to avoid those problems and targeting a positive start on Sunday.
The problem for Ipswich Town is that they do not head into Sunday’s opener in good form having struggled in preseason. They failed to win any of their final three warm up games, suffering back-to-back 2-1 defeats to League One sides Cambridge United and Stevenage.
How the bookies view it
Sunderland have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 6/4 with Unibet. A victory for Ipswich Town is valued at 2/1 by bet365 while Coral is offering odds of 23/10 for a draw.
Recent head to head
Sunderland are unbeaten in the last five matches against Ipswich Town, claiming four wins in that run. The most recent meeting at the Stadium of Light was a League One clash in 2021 which ended 2-0 in favour of the Black Cats.
Players to watch
Following Amad Diallo's return to parent club Manchester United, Sunderland will look to Luis Semedo to provide the spark in attack. The Portuguese forward is regarded as one of the most highly rated youngsters in the Championship and is priced at 27/10 by William Hill to make a scoring start to the season.
Ipswich Town will be keen to take advantage of Sunderland’s defensive vulnerability and will look to Conor Chaplin to provide the goods up front. The striker scored 26 League One goals last season and is priced at 3/1 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Sunderland and Ipswich Town do not appear particularly solid at the back, so both teams could be tipped to score at 8/11 with bet365. There were over 3.5 goals in six of the Black Cats’ seven preseason matches and a repeat is priced at 12/5 with BetVictor while Coral is offering odds of 10/11 for over 2.5 goals.
The hosts are expected to make a fast start and can be backed to score first at 20/21 with BoyleSports. Given the attacking quality, they can also be tipped to score in both halves at 5/2 with 10bet.
This England Championship match between Sunderland and Ipswich Town will be played on Aug 6, 2023 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Sunderland vs Ipswich Town prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
