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Liam Manning under pressure, a 16-year unbeaten run and players who have crossed the divide. Watch Ipswich vs Norwich live on Sky Sports Football from 11. 30am on Sunday; kick-off midday.
EFL Editor
@simeongholam
Friday 3 October 2025 11: 47, UK Even in 2023/24 when Ipswich finished above Norwich and won promotion to the Premier League they still couldn't get a win over their rivals. It has been 16 years now since Ipswich last tasted victory over their arch rivals with a 3-2 win at Portman Road in 2009. Since that time, 14 games have passed with eight wins and six draws. Two of them came in the play-off semi-finals in 2015. Is this their best chance to rectify the situation? Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player It has not been the beginning to the campaign many would have expected for Ipswich Town. Two wins from seven games so far, and it really could have been two from eight were it not for the abandonment of their trip to Blackburn. Just 12 goals scored. .. and five of those came in one rout of Sheffield United. The feeling at the club is that after a summer of moving parts and upheaval it will take time for things to come together.
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Only left-back Leif Davis remains from the starting XI that last faced Norwich in April 2024. Ironically, the man who scored the winner for the Canaries that day, Marcelino Nunez, will likely be featuring for Ipswich on Sunday. "It takes guts to cross the divide. Only the bravest make the move" - the nature of Ipswich's arrival video for him pretty much summed up the significance of the switch. .. In a strange way it might come as a relief to Liam Manning that he is taking his Norwich side to Portman Road, rather than facing them at Carrow Road. Four games at home so far this season, zero points on the board. It has been the worst start at home to a campaign in the club's history and the locals have already grown restless. By contrast, Norwich are still unbeaten on the road this season. Two wins and two draws collected. "We know how important that game is, " Manning said after Wednesday night's defeat at home to West Brom. "This group has shown a lot of toughness and resilience since I have been here to get good results away from home and we will be working hard between now and Sunday. The lads will be ready for it. " Defeat is simply not an option for Manning. And in his pre-match press conference on Thursday he was insistent that more of the pressure lies at the door of Ipswich. "You look at them, where they've been, the money they've spent etcetera, there'll be pressure that end, " the Norwich boss said. "So I think it's one of those where, for me, we should relish it. We should look forward to it. We should be ready to step up and give absolutely everything. "We have to take all the experience from the games we've had so far into the weekend and go and be the best versions of us. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player One man who will be expecting a frosty reception on his return to Portman Road will be Liam Gibbs, the Norwich City midfielder who made the opposite move to Nunez and swapped the Tractor Boys for the Canaries in 2021. An unused substitute on their last trip south in 2023, Gibbs, who grew up in Suffolk, will be hoping to feature this time after starting his first game of the season last Saturday at Stoke - following some struggles with injury last season. "It's a massive game, " he tells Sky Sports. "I'm local to the area, I know what the rivalry is about. I've got friends and family on both sides so I hear a lot from both ends. Everyone looks forward to it, some get nervous, some are excited. It's a game full of emotion and passion, and all of us are looking forward to it. "I expected [the reaction when I moved]. I knew what the rivalry was about and understood there would be. That's part of football. At the time I had to make the decision that was right for me. It paid off because I was able to play Championship football at a young age, and I was happy with that decision. "I've experienced the atmosphere at both Portman Road and Carrow Road and it's electric, right from the start. Fans are up for it, full of emotion and passion. "When you grow up here it feels like a huge derby. The rivalry is as fierce as any other. I don't know an Ipswich fan who likes Norwich or a Norwich fan who likes Ipswich. For me, this is the local derby and I've seen it from both sides. It's a very big game in my eyes. "If my name is read out there may be boos or other reactions. That drives you on and gives you motivation. Everyone will be up for the game anyway. New players ask what it means, and we make sure they know what it means to us and the fans. "We're all aware of the record. We don't want to add pressure, but the facts are there. We don't want to be the team that changes it. We'll give everything to make sure we come away with the win. " Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sky Sports' David Prutton: "Norwich will be happy knowing that unbeaten run stretches back 16 years. Even when Ipswich were promoted and finished sixth, they still couldn't beat them. That history will be on the players' minds because this game is as much about bragging rights as anything else. Norwich can take great heart from that record. They need to be looking at the top six. If Josh Sargent is fit, he can cause any Championship defence problems. Under Liam Manning it's a work in progress, but they have to push on after last season's stagnation. I think this match comes at a good stage of the season. There's freedom to it, not the pressure of promotion or survival. Hopefully both teams open up a bit before the international break. It would be great if they just went for it and gave everyone a proper Sunday lunchtime derby. As for the result, current form suggests Ipswich win. The history makes you want to say 2-2, but I'll go Ipswich 2-1 to finally end their run against Norwich. No winner of the £2M, no problem. There is another chance to win £1, 000, 000 with Super 6 this weekend!
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