The Stoke City vs Ipswich Town standings picture across the 2025-26 EFL Championship season charts the journey of two clubs travelling in sharply opposite directions, with Ipswich pushing for a return to the Premier League and Stoke settling for mid-table respectability.
With 39 games played and the campaign nearing its conclusion, Ipswich Town sit third in the Championship with 69 points, recording 19 wins, 12 draws and seven defeats, placing them firmly in automatic promotion contention.
Stoke City are 15th on 51 points from 39 games, with 14 wins, nine draws and 16 defeats, a respectable position in the context of the club’s recent history but one that leaves them significantly adrift of the promotion race.
The gap of 18 points between the two sides in the Stoke City vs Ipswich Town standings table underlines just how differently their campaigns have evolved since the opening months of the season.
Coventry City lead the Championship with 80 points heading into the final few fixtures, with Middlesbrough second on 71 and Ipswich locked in a three-way battle with Millwall for the two automatic promotion spots alongside the league leaders.
Stoke’s season has been defined by inconsistency, winning in clusters before surrendering form across extended runs that have kept them anchored in the table’s upper mid-section without ever seriously threatening the top six.
The two clubs met home and away across the season, with both fixtures producing drama in contrasting ways.
The first encounter at Portman Road on 10 December 2025, in front of an attendance of 27,008, ended 1-0 to Ipswich, with Jaden Philogene striking inside the opening two minutes to settle the contest in the home side’s favour before Stoke could find their footing.
At that stage the Stoke City vs Ipswich Town standings showed Ipswich third on 44 points with 25 games played, while Stoke sat eighth on 40 points from 26 games, a much tighter picture than the final table would suggest.
The return fixture at the bet365 Stadium on 10 March 2026 delivered the season’s most remarkable result between the sides, a 3-3 draw in front of 22,330 fans.
Stoke struck through Milan Smit twice, the second a penalty in the 96th minute, while Bae Jun-Ho added a third, though they could not hold on despite Ipswich scoring their own goals in a frantic second half through an Eric Bocat own goal, Jack Taylor and George Hirst.
Ipswich’s Portman Road form has been central to their push, with five home wins in the new year keeping their promotion campaign on track despite a testing schedule.
For Stoke, the campaign represents a period of careful squad rebuilding under their current management, prioritising defensive solidity that produced a positive goal difference of plus three despite the number of defeats.
The Stoke City vs Ipswich Town standings comparison at season’s end tells a simple story: Ipswich are a club that has rebuilt with purpose and direction, while Stoke are stable but still searching for the formula to close the gap to the division’s elite.