Match Pack: Ipswich vs Saints
The second weekend of the EFL season sees two of the promoted clubs from 2023/24 go head to head, as Southampton travel to Portman Road to face Ipswich. Get set for the high-noon showdown with our Match Pack…
THE MATCH
Ipswich Town vs Saints
Sky Bet Championship
Portman Road
Sunday 17th August, midday BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Robert Madley
Assistants: Sam Lewis, Lee Venamore
Fourth official: Ben Toner
THE KITS
Saints will be in the traditional red and white stripes for the trip to East Anglia, paired with black shorts and white socks. Hosts Ipswich will wear their usual combination of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks.
TICKETS
Away tickets have sold out, with the Saints allocation of 2,001 tickets already snapped up.
LIVE COVERAGE
For those without a ticket, the game will be screened live on Sky Sports Football with coverage getting under way from 11.30am BST, while Saints Play match passes are available for supporters in certain overseas territories.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
This will be the third consecutive season that Saints and Ipswich have competed in the same division, from the promotion tussles of 2023/24 to the Premier League scraps last term.
Both sides will have promotion aspirations again this time around, with many of the players still in both squads from two seasons ago.
Ipswich have added six new faces in the summer transfer window so far, including former England international Ashley Young, Napoli midfielder Jens Cajuste and Ajax striker Chuba Akpom, but Liam Delap has departed and Omari Hutchinson, the subject of strong interest from Nottingham Forest, has not even been named on the bench so far this season.
It’s been an uncertain start from the Tractor Boys, who snatched a 1-1 draw at Birmingham on the opening night of the new campaign thanks to a disputed stoppage-time penalty, before bowing out of the Carabao Cup at League Two Bromley on Tuesday night.
TEAM NEWS
Jaden Philogene could make his first appearance of the season after an ankle knock, while Kieran McKenna is hopeful summer signing Azor Matusiwa will also be available.
Fellow new recruits Jens Cajuste and Chuba Akpom aren't struggling with knocks, but having had limited time to train and play through pre-season, McKenna wants to be cautious with their workload.
Harry Clarke and Conor Townsend will be long-term absentees along with Wes Burns, who remains sidelined by an ACL injury he suffered at Anfield back in January.
Saints boss Will Still delivered a positive squad update at his pre-match press conference, but did confirm injured duo Will Smallbone and James Bree are still out.
Tyler Dibling is back in training, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Charlie Taylor are in contention after coming through the cup win at Northampton unscathed.
THE MANAGERS
Kieran McKenna: "I think the biggest challenge, and I know it's a challenge for the supporters as well, is that we all have to be really united going into Sunday. Players leaving, players coming, rumours in one direction, the other direction - that all needs to be blocked out because we have a really tough start to the season with competitive games.
"We're not quite in the position that we want to be in for those games and if our focus isn't 100% on the task at hand, then we're going to come up short. There'll be lots of opinions, but I just say to everyone coming to the stadium on Sunday, we really need to be together as a group.”
Will Still: “They’re a very good team, but there are a number of very good teams in the Championship this season. We have to be at it, we’ll have to be very, very good, but I think it’s still too early to set a bar and start speculating about who’s going to get automatic [promotion] and who’s going to be where at the end of the season.
“We’ve played one [game]. They played against a really good Birmingham side as well, but they’ve got a lot of qualities, they’ve got a really good manager, so we know what to expect, we know how we need to behave and in what frame of mind we need to go there, but it’s still way too early to start speculating about where we need to finish and how we need to play certain teams, or others.”
ONES TO WATCH
George Hirst: Hirst kept his cool from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for Ipswich at Birmingham last Friday night, making the perfect start to what he hopes will be a big scoring season for him as the focal point of the frontline.
Mateus Fernandes: Fernandes made his first start of the season in the midweek Carabao Cup tie at Northampton and marked the occasion by scoring the only goal of the game. The midfielder has been gradually building his minutes since returning from the European Under-21 Championship in the summer.
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 72
Ipswich wins: 27
Draws: 21
Saints wins: 24
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Feb 2025: Ipswich 1-2 Saints Premier League (Aribo, Onuachu)
Sep 2024: Saints 1-1 Ipswich Premier League (Dibling)
Apr 2024: Ipswich 3-2 Saints Championship (Adams, A.Armstrong)
Sep 2023: Saints 0-1 Ipswich Championship
Jan 2015: Ipswich 0-1 Saints FA Cup third round replay (Long)
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