Ipswich Town

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

In the Premier League last season, 13 of the 20 teams finished with between 40 and 60 points - the most in an English top-flight campaign since 2003-04 (also 13).

Was the Premier League so competitive in 2025-26 because the quality of the 'lesser' teams got better or the top teams got worse? It is hard to know for sure.

Given how savvy clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are, the vast amounts of money that enable even bottom-half sides to sign the best talent from abroad and the Premier League's current dominance of the Europa League and Conference League, it would seem to be the former.

However, the fact that promoted play-off winners Sunderland were able to finish above 13 teams in their first season back suggests the league was maybe not as strong as we think.

What we do know is that whether because they got worse or their opponents got better, four of the sides that finished in the top seven in 2024-25 - champions Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest - took 79 points fewer between them last season.

While Forest's decline was perhaps expected given their incredible seventh-place finish in 2024-25 and their journey to the Europa League semi-finals last season, the others were far more surprising.

Sunderland and Leeds smashed the recent run of promoted sides struggling to compete by taking 64 more points than the teams they replaced in the top flight.

As a result, this season will be a bit of an upside-down one in that Bournemouth, Brighton and Sunderland have European campaigns to navigate while Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle do not.

Will we therefore see a bounce-back to the more 'traditional' order in 2026-27 or are we truly entering a new, fiercely-competitive era of the Premier League?

Read more on the Premier League's competitiveness

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Every club approaches transfer windows differently, but it is clear that year-on-year the newly promoted teams are spending more in order to give themselves the best chance of Premier League survival.

Last summer, Sunderland brought in 15 players, Leeds added 10 and Burnley - the only one of the three to be relegated - signed 13.

All three clubs had a different approach; Sunderland looked to the European market for hidden gems, Leeds opted for a more physical profile of player and Burnley targeted younger talent alongside additions from other Premier League sides.

"Leeds United's approach to the 2025 summer transfer window was to mould the squad into 'Big Lads FC' and to be strong in both boxes," said BBC Radio Leeds reporter Adam Pope. "It was a gear shift when you consider the swagger - and the style - that had seen the team romp to the Championship title, scoring almost as many goals as the 100 points amassed, while conceding only 30 the previous season.

"Manager Daniel Farke and the recruitment team adopted a pragmatic and calculated view that the team had to impose itself to survive.

"In came a set of signings with genuine height and physicality. It worked superbly well."

Ipswich's recruitment this summer looks to be more about adding experience into the squad rather than physical profiles, but they have signed Kjell Scherpen - who is set to become the Premier League's tallest ever player.

The 6ft 9in goalkeeper, who joined from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in July, is set to be Town's first-choice keeper for the season.

He will be part of a relatively experienced starting XI under Gary O'Neil, which Pope views as further advantage to Town in their bid for survival.

"Ipswich may have the best chance having had experience of the top flight recently but that was under the impressive Kieran McKenna who has left," Pope added.

"O'Neil will need to draw on every ounce of the experience which saw him finish in 14th place with Wolves in 2024."

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Ipswich Town chief executive and chairman Mark Ashton has praised new head coach Gary O'Neil's impact at the club since his appointment in June.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Brenner Woolley, Ashton said: "We have still got work to do, but I certainly think he is fitting in well.

"His work-ethic, his morale and the way he interacts with people is first class."

It has been a busy summer at Portman Road as the chief executive has orchestrated player recruitment, stadium developments and a new training ground.

From safe standing, an extension to fan facilities and improvements made to accessibility improvements, the Tractor Boys have made changes aimed at making Portman Road a "fortress".

"The team was really good, but the fans were outstanding [last season]," added Ashton.

"We have got a group of new players who have never experienced what Portman Road can do. Fortress Portman Road is going to be key."

As well as the £150m Ipswich have spent on new players, the club has invested £30m into training ground developments, which Ashton says was inspired by former Town boss Sir Bobby Robson's advice when he was Newcastle manager.

"He was saying: 'Mark, look, the training ground has to be elite. It has to be a place of work. Don't build a spa facility. Don't build a leisure centre. Build something which is functional and elite.'

"Those words have stayed with me - 20-25 years on I have had the opportunity to deliver what he told me about at his football club."

Although it has been a busy summer transfer window, Ashton confirmed Ipswich "are not done" as they look to sign more players before the deadline on 1 September.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City are being heavily linked with Ipswich Town striker George Hirst and Tractor Boys fans feel it could be a coup for the Championship side.

The Scotland international scored 11 goals in 42 games during Ipswich's promotion run last season, though he only netted three times in 26 appearances in their previous Premier League campaign after issues with his knee.

"No offence to Stoke but I was expecting him to rock up at one of the parachute teams, if I'm honest," Richard Woodward of the Blue Monday podcast, external told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I did think he has a role to play for Ipswich maybe but things have shifted a bit with Kieran McKenna moving on.

"I think the key thing for him is confidence. He struggled for consistent minutes but when he got in the team, when he was fit - and he has had a few injuries - I can't praise him enough."

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Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Ipswich Town's 2026-27 Premier League campaign gets under way on Saturday, with Sunderland the visitors to Portman Road.

It has been a busy summer on and off the pitch for the Tractor Boys, with plenty of transfer activity following the arrival of Gary O'Neil as Kieran McKenna's successor.

Survival is inevitably the target and, after watching Sunderland and Leeds achieve that and more last season, there is perhaps more optimism that Town can stay up this time around.

All three promoted teams have been active in this summer's transfer market to help them bridge the gap between the Championship and Premier League.

Spending big is no guarantee of survival, but Ipswich and Coventry City have already spent more than £100m with less than two weeks of the window remaining.

To date, Town have signed 12 players this summer and spent around £150m.

They spent the same two seasons ago when they reached the top flight under McKenna, but this time their recruitment model is very different.

Town have cast their net far wider than English leagues, with Emersonn the first Brazilian to join the club, Sasa Lukic their first player from Serbia and Daizen Maeda the first Japanese player.

Turning to the wider market is what Sunderland did last summer, when they spent a record £161m on 15 players, in what was a complete squad overhaul by manager Regis Le Bris.

Nick Barnes, BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator, said: "They were able to identify players largely unknown from Europe and South America and buy on average for around 20 million euros, gambling on their due diligence to identify players they believed would only increase in value."

Brian Brobbey, Noah Sadiki and Robin Roefs are prime examples of that strategy after impressing individually last season.

And while Town have looked to the European markets for striker Emersonn and goalkeeper Kayne van Oevelen, they have also signed four players with Premier League experience.

Lukic arrives alongside Issa Diop, who together have made over 250 top-flight appearances, as well as Florentino Luis who played 31 times last season for Burnley and former Brighton midfielder Julio Enciso.

Encisco returns to Portman Road permanently - just 18 months after his previous spell - as the club record signing alongside midfielder Abdoul Ouattara from French club Strasbourg.

The reported combined fee for both players has the potential to reach £47.3m, with both players having played for O'Neil in France.

With just over 10 days of the window remaining, Ipswich could eclipse Sunderland's record spending last summer with near enough the same number of players through the door.

Come back to this page later today to see how Ipswich's recruitment compares with that of Leeds United last summer.

Last season: Second in Championship.

This season: 19th.

Kieran McKenna's decision to step down as manager was a shock after taking the club back into the top flight, so now it is up to Gary O'Neil to pick up the reins.

The Tractor Boys went down with a whimper last time they were in the Premier League, so they will be hoping it is different this time - and they have also shown ambition in the transfer market.

Since securing promotion, Ipswich have spent £150m with the acquisitions of Abdoul Ouattara and Julio Enciso, who worked with O'Neil at Strasbourg, taking them up to 12 major signings.

Daizen Maeda will be hoping to transfer the form which helped Celtic win the Scottish title last season to the Premier League, while the exciting Abdul Fatawu from Leicester City will also hope to make an impact.

If Ipswich Town do not survive, it will not be through lack of trying or lack of ambition.

• Read more of Phil's predictions

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

Teams in the bottom half of the Premier League in 2025-26 finished with more points than they had in years, meaning that judging them simply by their position in the table is perhaps a little harsh.

Everton may have been underwhelmed with their 13th-place finish but it was the most points a team in that position had finished with since the Toffees themselves in 1999-2000.

The points of the four places below them were all the highest they have been in the Premier League for 23 years and West Ham can consider themselves unlucky to have gone down with the highest points total for an 18th-placed side since 2010-11.

However, competition has come at a cost.

One place where the Premier League has become less competitive - because it has become more fiercely-contested overall - is at the very bottom.

While it is almost expected for one side to be cut adrift long before the end of the season, nowadays two sides are getting left behind.

The average points tally of the second-bottom side in a 38-game season is 31, meaning teams that finish there have usually competed in a relegation battle for most of the season before ultimately falling short.

After the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, only two 19th-placed sides failed to reach 30 points in the first 21 seasons. But in the past decade, seven of the 10 sides to finish in that position have failed to do so.

In the past two seasons, promoted sides Ipswich and Burnley have both finished there with just 22 points - the fewest ever taken by a second-bottom side.

Relegation battles are now mostly a fight to see who takes the final spot in the bottom three, with the other two accounted for long before the final day - often by promoted sides.

But inspired by the survival of Sunderland and Leeds, promoted trio Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City will all be hoping they have what it takes to match the competitiveness of the Premier League this season.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

Ipswich Town, Hull and Al-Ittihad are pushing to secure the signing of Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, 26, from Girona. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

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Former Ipswich midfielder Cole Skuse thinks the signing of durable players will be key for "project stay in the league" as the Tractor Boys gear up for the Premier League kick-off.

Gary O'Neil's side have completed the signing of 12 players so far this summer, spending a net total of £150m.

Skuse feels O'Neil "had to be active" in the window and the club had to invest in order to avoid relegation.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "You have to bring in Premier League experience - Premier League durability, which I think the signings they have made have been that.

"Issa Diop, some people may be underwhelmed, but look at his experience in the Premier League. The amount of games he has played with no injuries, and he has had no relegations."

When Ipswich were promoted back to the top flight at the end of the 2023-24 season, Kieran McKenna had helped create the masterplan of escaping the Championship.

However, Town's 22-year wait for Premier League football ultimately ended with a swift return back to the second tier.

Now, it's Gary O'Neil's turn, and he will be hoping his Premier League managerial experience with Wolves and Bournemouth will serve him well.

Skuse added: "They have brought in players who are durable and who can play games, and they can keep continuity in the group. I think the signings have been really good.

"Having watched a couple of games in pre-season, what they're trying to achieve is that intensity and that stability and also the resilience to be hard to break down."

Ipswich and O'Neil's first test will be away at Sunderland as they visit the north east on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

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Ipswich have had a second offer rejected for Bayer Leverkusen and Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios, 27. (Florian Plettenberg), external

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Fancy testing your football prediction skills? With the new season under way, BBC Sport has just the thing to keep you entertained every week.

After the success of our World Cup Predictor game, we've rebranded it for the club season as Match of the Day Predictor.

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Ipswich Town's Premier League return is just a few days away now and the squad for the coming season is beginning to take its final form.

Join BBC Radio Suffolk's The Blue Hour to hear what fans and experts are saying before Town's opener against Sunderland on Saturday.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and subscribe to the dedicated Ipswich Town page to get all Tractor Boys audio content.

BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton thinks Kieran McKenna's decision to leave Ipswich after winning promotion underlines the difficulty of staying in the Premier League.

Sutton joined guests on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club to look to the new season and on McKenna said: "Was it a good time for him to step away from it? I think so as he probably knew it would be a real challenge to stay in the Premier League - because it always is for a newly-promoted club.

"It's about how they knit together. They have spent a lot. They found it incredibly difficult last time and it will be again. At least they have given it a go but I think they are a team which will struggle.

"Honestly, I'd like to see them stay up but I think it'll be difficult for them."

On the signing of Daizen Maeda from Celtic, Sutton said: "I think he will do fine. If they are playing counter-attack, I don't think there are many better players than him with his pace in behind. They may be a bit frustrated with his finishing or his final ball off the left. But he has some incredible attributes, certainly in the way he shuts down and the energy he can bring to the team. I think it's a really smart signing for them. I think Celtic should have held on to him."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

Last season, the Premier League was arguably more competitive than it has been for years.

While the 65 points between champions Arsenal and bottom side Wolves was around the average for a 38-game season (63), a real revolution took place in mid-table.

Since the league was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, the gap between the top four and the bottom three – between what has often been the Champions League and the Championship – had been increasing as the seasons went by, with the 'bigger' clubs profiting from their European adventures and the extra money they earned by regularly finishing higher in the table.

But last season, the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of the Premier League dropped from 44 points in 2024-25 to just 26 points – the smallest distance for 23 years (since 25 points in 2002-03).

The European places were more attainable than they had been for years. Despite taking a point fewer than when they finished seventh the season before, Aston Villa clinched Champions League qualification by finishing two places higher.

While Liverpool took the 'bonus' Champions League place by finishing fifth, their points total of 60 was the lowest by a side finishing there for 19 years and would have put them ninth in 2024-25.

Bournemouth and Sunderland also took full advantage of needing fewer points than normal by qualifying for European competition for the first time ever and for over half a century respectively.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

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New signings Abdoul Ouattara and Julio Enciso are looking forward to reuniting with their former boss Gary O'Neil after signing for Ipswich Town from Strasbourg.

Both Ouattara and Enciso have signed five-year deals and will link up with O'Neil's squad before this weekend's season opener against Sunderland.

"I am very happy to have signed for Ipswich Town," Ouattara said. "The Premier League is the best league in the world and as soon as I knew the opportunity was there, to play in England under a manager I have already enjoyed working with, I jumped at it.

"I am still young but have had some good experiences already and I can't wait to meet the fans and my team-mates and get started."

Town boss O'Neil added: "Abdoul is a talented young player who can play in different positions, so is a very good addition to our squad.

"We enjoyed working with him in France last season and are delighted to have the opportunity to do so again at Ipswich."

Encisco spent the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan at Ipswich from Brighton, scoring twice in 13 appearances.

"I am so happy to be back at Ipswich Town," said the Paraguay international. "I really enjoyed my time on loan at the club and I was so happy to see them win promotion back to the Premier League last season.

"I worked with the manager in France last season and the chance to play for him again at a great club like Ipswich is one I'm very excited for.

"I can't wait to see the supporters again."

Image source, Getty Images

Ipswich Town centre-back Issa Diop says the team is "getting better and better" as they continue to adjust to playing together.

Diop, who signed from Fulham, linked up with the squad earlier this month after helping Morocco reach the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

He played 73 minutes in Saturday's 4-2 win over Union Berlin before being replaced by Cedric Kipre.

"It was a good game," Diop told BBC Radio Suffolk. "We started a little bit slow and they were pressing high and strong.

"When we figured out how to get out of this pressure, we scored a couple of goals.

"But we conceded two, so we will try to avoid that next week [against Sunderland].

"Physically we're getting better and better, and we're playing more minutes together so we understand each other and what the Gaffer wants better.

"It's always better to win but pre-season means nothing. The real season starts next week so we need to be ready.

"It's going to be a huge game and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting three points."

Image source, Getty Images

Ipswich Town concluded their pre-season campaign with an entertaining 4-2 win over Union Berlin in Germany on Saturday.

After falling behind early, the Gary O'Neil's side took control before the break as with goals from Jack Clarke, Emersonn and Dara O'Shea giving them a 3-1 lead.

The hosts reduced the deficit after the break before Kasey McAteer restored the two-goal advantage as he finished off a flowing team move.

Ipswich are determined to sign German striker Derry Scherhant, 23, from Freiburg this summer. (Teamtalk), external

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen have knocked back an offer of 20m euros (£17m) from Town for 27-year-old Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios. (Sky Sports Germany), external

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Ipswich are set to complete the signing of 20-year-old Ivory Coast-born right-back and midfielder Abdoul Ouattara from Strasbourg. (Sky Sports), external

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