Five talking points ahead of the East Anglian derby

Marcelino Nunez was a key player for Norwich when the sides met in the 2023/24 season but is now a Blue

Ipswich Town welcome their old rivals Norwich City to Portman Road on Sunday for their first derby of the season.

Kieran McKenna's side are gradually settling into life in the Championship after a year in the Premier League, while Norwich are struggling to find form under new boss Liam Manning.

The neutrals will tell you that Ipswich have the stronger squad, have benefited from the income generated from last season, and that Norwich could be facing a battle to avoid relegation if they cannot find form soon.

But this is a derby and logic tends to go out of the window.

Ahead of the big match, we put five key talking points to the BBC's Ipswich Town commentator, Brenner Woolley, and his counterpart for Norwich City, Chris Goreham.

It's been 16 years since Ipswich beat Norwich...

With two promotions and a long-awaited return to the Premier League, Ipswich have had a lot to celebrate in recent seasons... but victory against Norwich is not one of them

Chris: Whichever way you look at it, 16 years has been a remarkable run.

It will come to an end at some point but when it does Norwich fans who were around to see it will have Grant Holt's hat-trick, a 5-1 at Portman Road and a play-off semi-final victory to name but a few.

Those are the sort of memories that will last.

Brenner: It's crazy that we're still talking about Jim Magilton being the last Ipswich manager to taste derby success and that Jon Stead is the last Town player to score a winner in one of these matches.

A bit like when the Blues were promoted to the Premier League in May 2024 we're once again referring to an entire generation of Ipswich fans who've never experienced the joy of seeing their team beat the old enemy.

Now that time in the top-flight has been ticked off their wish-list, a long-awaited win over Norwich has become their number one priority.

They've had enough of this bizarre hold the Canaries have had over their club for so long.

Ipswich couldn't beat them when everything was bleak this side of the Waveney and nor could they beat them two seasons ago when the blue half of East Anglia was very much on the up.

This time around there wouldn't appear to be a great deal between the two sides - neither having started the season as well as they would've wished, albeit Ipswich are looking for a third successive home win.

Former Canary Marcelino Nunez's first derby as an Ipswich player...

Marcelino Nunez didn't hold back when pledging his allegiance to Ipswich after his move from Norwich in August

Brenner: I would be surprised if Marcelino Nunez started as I am expecting Jens Cajuste to regain his place after being rested for Tuesday's trip to Bristol City. I'm expecting Kieran McKenna to revert largely to the side that beat Portsmouth at Portman Road last weekend - probably with Jacob Greaves replacing Cedric Kipre at centre-half.

Nunez, who's only made one start so far, will almost certainly appear from the bench at some point in the second half.

The fear for Norwich fans will be that when he does surface he'll do what he did at Carrow Road in April 2024 and score a decisive goal for the home team.

Should he pick the perfect game to open his Blues account in I've a feeling the celebration will be something very special.

Chris: Nunez was a good player for Norwich and in recent weeks it has felt like they have missed his creativity.

The frustration Norwich fans had with him was that he missed an awful lot of games.

Selling him for a big fee might have made business sense for City, with him in the final year of his contract, but if their current form continues selling a player to their biggest rivals it will be another stick for fans to beat the City decision makers with.

Liam Manning - the Norwich manager with previous ties to Ipswich...

Defeat against West Brom on Wednesday added further pressure on Norwich boss Liam Manning ahead of the derby

Brenner: Liam will be well aware of the reception he's likely to receive when he and his players appear from the tunnel.

While he's a Norfolk lad he's clearly got a strong connection to Town, given it's where he started his coaching journey and, as such, the home crowd won't hold back from showing him their disapproval of him now being in the yellow and green corner.

Chris: I don't think this can be compared to Paul Lambert managing both clubs.

Manning could certainly do with a result. Daniel Farke was in a similar position going into the Portman Road derby in 2018.

They nicked a point and it sparked something special.

What defeat would mean for the managers...

Kieran McKenna continues to have the backing of most Ipswich fans, despite the club's relegation from the Premier League last season

Chris: Starting with an unwanted record-breaking run of five straight home defeats means Liam Manning has already got very little credit in the bank.

Becoming the first manager since Bryan Gunn in 2009 to lose one would leave him under big pressure. But it's only his ninth league game in charge so perhaps those above him at Carrow Road need to stand up and be counted.

Brenner: While the knee-jerk reaction of a few fans will no doubt be brutally negative, there will be no more pressure on Kieran McKenna if Town lose this game and nor should there be in my opinion.

It would be only a second defeat in eight games this season, so hardly grounds for questions over his future.

That said, he and his players are well aware what this game means to the fanbase and how long it is since they had any derby joy, so they will be fully revved up to make it three home wins in a row.

Should they win it could be a real spark in terms of getting their season fully up and running and be a major morale boost for fans who've been underwhelmed by performances, if not results, so far.

What do fans expect going into the derby?

Norwich fans were happy to boast about their unbeaten streak the last time the two sides met, in April 2024

Chris: From a Norwich point of view let's just say a draw and preserving the unbeaten run in the derby would be seen as a huge success.

There's no getting away from the fact that, having had a Premier League season, Ipswich are in a much stronger position than Norwich ahead of this one.

There hasn't been an awful lot in City's recent performances to offer optimism.

Brenner: I think there is a fairly even split amongst Town fans.

Some are cautiously optimistic that this is their time and that the run has to end at some point - so why not now.

Others fear yet another derby day disappointment, largely because it's engrained in them.

They've become accustomed to Norwich having a hold over them, whatever the current league table or form book suggests.

1-1 seems to be a common score prediction - painfully carrying Norwich's unbeaten run into 2026.

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