Team guides · Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town FPL team guide 2026/27
Squad, fixture runs and rotation partners
Schedule pulse
Difficulty across the next 5 listed fixtures.
Attack vs defence
Bawler's own split — the same run can be kind to one end and cruel to the other.
Rated 1 (easiest) to 5 from the opponent's attacking and defensive strength, not the official single number. How it's built →
Rotation partners
Own one from each pair and start whichever has the kinder week.
Scored by taking the easier of the two clubs' fixtures each gameweek across the listed horizon.
Fixture run
Every listed fixture ahead, coloured by official FPL difficulty.
Manager & style
Appointed 23 June 2026, replacing Kieran McKenna (stepped down 10 June 2026 after four and a half years to take a break from football management and focus on family — he was NOT sacked and did NOT leave for another club). A new manager means last season's roles, minutes and set-piece duties do not automatically carry over.
Adaptable, low-possession, mid-block and fast vertical transition. O'Neil's own words (TWTD, 30 Jul 2026): 'with the ball we've used a back three most of the time in possession', 'out of possession, we've been a four. We'll be a five sometimes, we haven't done that yet', and 'the season's going to call for a bit of adaptability'. The back three in possession is achieved via INVERTED FULL-BACKS — EADT's Cartagena report notes Furlong and Johnson 'pushing high and inverting into midfield to influence the final third'. This is FPL-material: inverting full-backs suppress the crossing and assist volume that made Leif Davis an FPL name under McKenna. Stated philosophy on arrival was possession-based ('I want my teams to have the ball'), but his Premier League track record is the opposite — his Bournemouth side had the second-worst possession share in the league at 40.7%. MODEL IPSWICH AS A LOW-POSSESSION COUNTER SIDE. FFScout expects his centre-backs to accumulate high DefCon points for exactly this reason. Pressing height is inferred (mid-block plus fast transition) rather than verified — no 2026 source quantifies it. Set-piece emphasis and rotation tendencies: UNVERIFIED. Backroom staff: Neil Critchley and Tim Jenkins (assistants), Ed Ames (coach/analyst), with Sone Aluko, Stuart Lewis and Rene Gilmartin retained from the McKenna era.
Usual shape: 4-2-3-1 nominal in both pre-season friendlies (shifting to 4-1-4-1 after subs); functionally a back three in possession / back four out of possession hybrid, with a back five explicitly planned but not yet used
Summer transfers
In
| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Expected role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emersonn | CF | Toulouse | CLUB RECORD — £24m (Wikipedia) / ~£26.5m (Yahoo) / €28m (Transfermarkt) | Nailed lone striker in the 4-2-3-1. Five-year deal. Started v Osasuna. Eclipses the ~£20m paid for Hutchinson (2024) and Philogene (2025) as the club's record signing. |
| Abdul Fatawu | RW | Leicester City | £20m initial + £3m add-ons (€23.45m per Transfermarkt) | First-choice right winger on a five-year deal; best performer v Osasuna. Left-footer cutting in off the right feeding late central runners. 9 goals + 7 assists and 3 penalties won in the Championship; 200 recoveries and 43 tackles means he also fits the defensive workload. |
| Daizen Maeda | LW/CF | Celtic | £10m (Sky Sports/FFScout) / £8m (Wikipedia) | Three-year deal. Japan international, played at the 2026 World Cup. Arrives off 14 goals + 16 assists in 32 starts but lands in an already-congested left-side rotation. Priced £5.5m as an FPL midfielder. |
| Issa Diop | CB | Fulham | £8.5m | Experienced Premier League centre-back (173 PL appearances for West Ham and Fulham) competing directly with Jacob Greaves alongside Dara O'Shea — or all three together if O'Neil uses the back five he has flagged. FFScout's headline £4.0m DefCon pick. |
| Kjell Scherpen | GK | Union Saint-Gilloise | £8.5m + £2.6m add-ons | Four-year deal to 2030. TWTD explicitly: 'Scherpen will come in as Town's number one'. Displaces both Alex Palmer and the injured Christian Walton. |
| Chuba Akpom | CF | Ajax | £7m (Wikipedia) / £8m (Sports Mole) / €9.3m (Transfermarkt) | Loan made permanent. Back-up striker behind Emersonn; scored the equaliser off the bench v Osasuna. TWTD reports his future is uncertain through August. |
| Cédric Kipré | CB | Stade Reims | £2.16m (Wikipedia) / £3.9m (Sports Mole) / €4.5m (Transfermarkt) | Loan made permanent. Squad depth at centre-back; started the heavily-rotated Cartagena friendly. |
| Kayne van Oevelen | GK | FC Volendam | £3.4m (Wikipedia) / €4m (Transfermarkt) | Depth signing; a Championship loan is possible but blocked while Walton is injured. |
Out
| Player | Pos | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arijanet Murić | GK | Sassuolo | £6m / €7m |
| Conor Chaplin | AM/SS | Leicester City | Free |
| Elkan Baggott | CB | Millwall | Undisclosed (€1.17m per Transfermarkt) |
| Conor Townsend | LB | West Bromwich Albion (Transfermarkt) / 'released' (Sports Mole) — SOURCES CONFLICT | Free |
| Ashley Young | RB/LB | Retired | — |
| Cieran Slicker | GK | Barnsley (season loan) | Loan |
| Somto Boniface | LB/RB | Leyton Orient (season loan) | Loan |
| Jens Cajuste | CM | Napoli (loan expired, returned to parent club) | Loan expiry |
| Iván Azón | CF | Como (loan expired, returned to parent club) | Loan expiry |
| Dan Neil | CM | Sunderland (loan expired, returned to parent club) | Loan expiry |
Current injuries
| Player | Issue | Expected return |
|---|---|---|
| Jaden Philogene | Hamstring — described as 'small', scan completed. Missed both pre-season friendlies. | O'Neil: 'He's expected to be back soon... the plan is to get him ready for Sunderland' (GW1, 22 Aug). Genuine doubt. |
| Azor Matusiwa | Muscle injury, post-surgery (operated after May promotion) | Unlikely to feature in any pre-season friendly. O'Neil: 'They both have a chance for Sunderland... but there will be no risks taken.' Genuine doubt for GW1. |
| Jack Taylor | Knee cartilage procedure, post-surgery (operated after May promotion) | Back training on grass, racing to be fit for GW1 (22 Aug); 'no risks taken'. Genuine doubt. |
| Christian Walton | Foot injury | O'Neil: 'He's going to be out for a little while, but he's progressing well.' No date given. Now the back-up keeper behind Scherpen regardless. |
| Kasey McAteer | Transfermarkt flags an 'unknown injury' dated 9 May 2026 — LIKELY STALE DATA | Available — he started the FC Cartagena friendly around 25 July. Treat as fit. |
Injury picture as of 30 July 2026 — availability moves fast in pre-season, so confirm against official team news.
Expected XI & selection battles
Formation: 4-2-3-1 (back three in possession via inverted full-backs; back four out of possession)
- GK Kjell Scherpen
- RB Harry Clarke (inverts into midfield)
- CB Dara O'Shea (c)
- CB Jacob Greaves
- LB Leif Davis
- CM Cameron Humphreys
- CM Marcelino Núñez
- RW Abdul Fatawu
- AM Anis Mehmeti
- LW Jack Clarke
- ST Emersonn
Battles to watch
- LEFT-SIDE ATTACK IS SEVERELY CONGESTED — the single biggest FPL minutes risk at the club. Jack Clarke, Jaden Philogene, Daizen Maeda and Anis Mehmeti compete for one or two slots. Clarke and Philogene alone shared 28 Championship goals from the left flank last season; Maeda arrives off 14 goals + 16 assists in 32 starts. Nobody there is nailed.
- CENTRE-BACK ALONGSIDE O'SHEA — Jacob Greaves vs Issa Diop, unresolved. FFScout flags that a back five with Diop, O'Shea and Greaves together is live given O'Neil's in-possession back three. This directly determines which £4.0m defender to own.
- DOUBLE PIVOT — Humphreys and Núñez hold the shirts only while Matusiwa is injured. If Matusiwa is fit for GW1, Humphreys drops out. A Saša Lukić signing would reshuffle it again. Núñez looks the most secure.
- GOALKEEPER — Scherpen expected to come straight in as number one; Alex Palmer (the previous starter and the man who started v Osasuna) is reportedly heading for a sale or loan.
- STRIKER — Emersonn is the club-record signing and started v Osasuna, but Akpom scored off the bench and his own future is publicly uncertain.
- NOTE ON PRE-SEASON EVIDENCE — the FC Cartagena XI was heavily rotated and youth-weighted; treat the Osasuna XI (Palmer; H. Clarke, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis; Núñez, Humphreys; Fatawu, Mehmeti, J. Clarke; Emersonn) as the real signal. Scherpen, Diop and Maeda had not yet been registered.
Set-piece takers
FPL winners & losers
Research calls from the sources below, not model output — the model's numbers for these players are on predicted points.
Key uncertainties
The honest list — what this guide could not pin down as of 30 July 2026. Any of these can change the FPL picture before Gameweek 1:
- FORMATION IS NOT SETTLED and is the highest-impact unknown. O'Neil has explicitly said he will vary by opponent and that a back FIVE is a shape he intends to use but 'hasn't done yet'. The in-possession back three / out-of-possession back four hybrid means FPL positional classification (especially for full-backs) may not match on-pitch role.
- THE LEFT-WING LOGJAM: Jack Clarke, Philogene, Maeda and Mehmeti for one or two slots — roughly £30m+ of talent for one shirt, and nobody there is nailed.
- Philogene's fitness AND his future are both open. O'Neil says 'he's part of my plans' and calls exit reports 'probably noise', but the player changed agency and missed both friendlies.
- The window is open until 1 September, AFTER GW1. O'Neil says there is 'plenty more business to do', with midfield and striker the stated priorities. Confirmed interest in Saša Lukić (Fulham) and a Julio Enciso return from Strasbourg. An incoming central midfielder would directly cost Cameron Humphreys his place.
- Outgoings are not finished: Szmodics is imminent, and Akpom, Hirst, Ogbene and Taylor all have uncertain futures. This directly exposes the Akpom budget-striker thesis.
- Matusiwa and Taylor are both post-surgical and both 'have a chance' for GW1 with 'no risks taken' — if Matusiwa starts, Humphreys drops out.
- The centre-back pairing (Greaves vs Diop, or both plus O'Shea in a back five) is unresolved and determines which £4.0m defender to own.
- The penalty hierarchy was set under McKenna in the Championship. O'Neil has not confirmed it and Emersonn is a £24m record striker.
- Set-piece taker data for corners and free-kicks comes only from Fantasy Football Scout's page stamped 'verified GW31' of the 2025/26 Championship season — no 2026/27 primary confirmation exists.
- Scherpen's FPL price is unpublished — he signed on 28 July, after the price reveal.
- TRANSFER FEES CONFLICT ACROSS AGGREGATORS: Emersonn (£24m vs £26.5m vs €28m), Maeda (£8m vs £10m), Akpom (£7m vs £8m vs €9.3m), Kipré (£2.16m vs £3.9m vs €4.5m). The transfer facts are solid, the numbers are not. Conor Townsend's destination also conflicts (West Brom per Transfermarkt vs 'released' per Sports Mole).
- Squad numbers conflict between Wikipedia and FotMob (FotMob shows duplicates — #26 for both Scherpen and O'Shea, #30 for three players). Prefer Wikipedia.
- David Button is listed as a goalkeeping coach by Wikipedia but appears as a £4.0m playing goalkeeper on the EADT FPL price list — unresolved, possibly a dual role.
- O'Neil has NO competitive match on record at Ipswich. Every tactical read is from two pre-season friendlies (one heavily rotated) plus press quotes. Confidence should rise materially after the Union Berlin dress rehearsal on 15 August.
- FIXTURE NOTE: GW1 is Saturday 22 August 2026, 15:00, Ipswich v Sunderland at Portman Road — not 21 August. The opening run is Sunderland (H), Man Utd (A), Liverpool (H), Crystal Palace (A), Everton (A), Fulham (H), Man City (A), Nott'm Forest (H); FFScout suggests GW4-10 is the better entry window.
- PROMOTION ROUTE VERIFIED: automatic, 2nd in the Championship (confirmed 2 May 2026 with a 3-0 home win over QPR), NOT via the play-offs. Promoted alongside Coventry City (champions) and Hull City (play-offs).
Sources
- O'Neil: We'll Need to Be Adaptable (TWTD) — primary tactical quotes — 2026-07-30
- 2026–27 Ipswich Town F.C. season (Wikipedia) — 2026-07-30
- Ipswich Town Transfers 26/27 (Transfermarkt) — 2026-07-30
- O'Neil: Plenty More Business to Do (TWTD) — 2026-07-30
- Ipswich Town penalty statistics, 2025/26 Championship (Transfermarkt) — 2026-07-30
- Ipswich Town suspensions and injuries (Transfermarkt) — 2026-07-30
A point-in-time research snapshot compiled 30 July 2026, showing the six most recent of the sources the research drew on. It does not update in real time — line-ups, fitness and transfers can all move before the deadline, so always confirm against official team news. All 20 club guides are on team guides.
FPL is a free fantasy game — this is squad research, not betting advice.
Updated 13 August 2026, 07:21 UK · Source: Official FPL API