Ipswich have won both their games, Manchester United have lost theirs, and they meet at Old Trafford at 9pm
Michael Carrick’s side host newly promoted Ipswich on Sunday evening after losing 2-0 at Hull on the opening weekend. Gary O’Neil’s team have won both matches they have played since coming up.
Aug 30, 2026
Ipswich Town have played two matches since coming up and won both of them. Manchester United have played one and lost it. They meet at Old Trafford on Sunday evening, 9pm in India, and the table says the promoted side are above the hosts.
That will not last, most likely. Michael Carrick’s team are far too good to sit where they are for long. But one game into the season, with Carrick now permanently in the job, the questions have started early.
Hull did what nobody expected
United went to Hull on the opening weekend and lost 2-0. Both goals came in the first half, both from set-pieces, and both were scored by centre-backs: Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy. Hull had never beaten United in the Premier League before, and they did it on the day they returned to it.
Conceding twice from dead balls to a promoted side is the sort of thing that follows a manager around. Carrick will know that Ipswich, who put three past Leicester in midweek, are not going to be intimidated by the venue.
Ipswich are enjoying themselves
Gary O’Neil won his first match in charge at Portman Road. Emersonn opened the scoring against Sunderland, Angulo levelled with a free-kick, and Jack Clarke came off the bench to beat his old club with a right-footed finish into the corner on 90 minutes.
Three days later they knocked Leicester out of the Carabao Cup 3-1. Sindre Walle Egeli scored, and Marcelino Núñez scored twice, the second of them from just inside the centre circle after he spotted Jakub Stolarczyk off his line. Ipswich do not look like a team bracing for a relegation fight.
Who is available
Carlos Baleba will not make his United debut here. He picked up an ankle problem in Brighton’s pre-season before the move went through and could need another three weeks. Amad Diallo is also out.
Ipswich are without Azor Matusiwa. Otherwise O’Neil has the squad that beat Leicester, which includes Daizen Maeda and Abdul Fatawu, both signed this summer.
The history is emphatically United’s
United are unbeaten in their last eight home league games against Ipswich, six wins and two draws, and they have won the last four of those by an aggregate of 18-2. The most recent meeting at Old Trafford, in February 2025, finished 3-2.
Go back further and the number gets sillier. Ipswich beat United 2-1 at Old Trafford in May 1984, and United have not lost a home league match from a half-time lead in the 400 they have played since.
None of which helps if the first corner goes the same way it did at Hull.