West Bromwich Albion host Ipswich Town at The Hawthorns on 25 Apr 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 07:30 EST and 12:30 GMT, in a match that pits a nine-game unbeaten West Brom against second-place Ipswich, who have a game in hand.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna said West Brom are "probably the form team in the division at the moment" and warned his side of a team that "have found a way of playing that suits the players and a settled team," calling the turnaround "another challenge for Ipswich." The meeting — a classic west brom vs ipswich town tie on paper and on the table — brings those two narratives head to head.
The headline numbers are stark. West Brom have not lost since a 2-1 defeat at Oxford on 28 February and arrive having extended that run to nine games unbeaten. They have kept clean sheets in each of their last four Championship matches and thumped Watford 3-0 at The Hawthorns in midweek. Ipswich, meanwhile, also come off a midweek victory — a 2-1 win at Charlton on Wednesday — and boast strong away form: they have lost just one of their last six away league games and have won three of their last four on the road. When the sides met in October it was Ipswich who took the narrow 1-0 win at Portman Road.
Injuries and selection will shape how both managers approach the game. West Brom remain without Jed Wallace for the rest of the season, and Mikey Johnston is a long-term absentee after breaking his leg at Oxford in February. Ipswich carry no fresh injury concerns but are already missing Conor Townsend and goalkeeper David Button with knee and hamstring problems respectively; Leif Davis and Wes Burns are expected to face fitness checks ahead of Sunday.
Context matters: West Brom spent much of the season hovering around the relegation zone before a revival under interim boss James Morrison. That form has been enough to secure their Championship status, turning what looked like a fraught run-in into an opportunity to finish on a high. Ipswich, by contrast, are still chasing automatic promotion and are under pressure to hold off rivals while making the most of their game in hand.
The tension here is clear and specific. Ipswich sit second and must treat this as a chance to consolidate that position; they travel as the higher-placed side on paper but face an opponent whose recent results and defensive record suggest a different story on the pitch. West Brom’s streak of clean sheets and their 3-0 midweek win show a team with a settled back line and a plan that works even without key attackers, raising the question of whether Ipswich’s injury-hit backline and the absence of their first-choice goalkeeper could blunt their promotion push.
Kieran McKenna’s blunt assessment — that West Brom are probably the form team — is both an admission of the difficulty and a prompt for his players to adapt. For Ipswich the match is more than a fixture: it is the single league game on 25 Apr 2026 that could define their immediate momentum in a tight race for automatic promotion. For West Brom it is an opportunity to underline how complete the turnaround has been under Morrison, proving the unbeaten run was no fluke and that their midseason recovery has real teeth.
The clearest, most consequential question after 90 minutes is whether Ipswich can break a West Brom side that has found defensive rhythm while missing influential attackers. If they cannot, Ipswich’s grip on second place will be tested in the days that follow; if they can, McKenna’s side will take a fresh breath of control in the promotion race. Either way, The Hawthorns on 25 April will leave one team with momentum and the other with answers to find — and both managers know exactly which of those positions they prefer.
