Ipswich Town have been one of the most impressive teams in League One — and the entirety of England — this season. McKenna’s men play some scintillating football and have not lost in the league since 21st January 2023. They are only one point behind leaders Plymouth Argyle with three games to go.
There have been a number of players who have played an equally important part for them this season, but one player who has stood out is attacking midfielder Conor Chaplin. The below visualisation shows where the 26-year-old midfielder ranks for some of the key metrics when compared with players who play in a similar position in League One.
Conor Chaplin is having the season of his life, scoring 22 goals — the second-highest tally in the league, and his highest-ever count. The midfielder plays in an advanced position, as a no.10, and is one of the chief architects of play for Ipswich.
As seen in the visual above, Chaplin’s attacking numbers look impressive with the midfielder ranking 92nd percentile for Expected Goal Contributions per 90 minutes and 98th percentile for Shots per 90 minutes.
He is close to the box quite often, which allows him to be at the right place at the right time to finish off the chances, with him falling in the 95th percentile for touches in the opposition’s penalty area per 90 minutes.
In possession, he drops deep quite often to collect the pass from his teammates and is not hesitant to make that late run into the box to finish off an attack. He has five assists to his name — the third most in the Ipswich squad.
One of his biggest weak points may be his aerial ability, as he ranks below average for aerial duels won. Defensively, he is not as good as one would hope for him to be, but he compensates for that through his attacking ability.
Ipswich Town are very close to earning automatic promotion to the Championship and will want Chaplin to finish the season on a high if they are to achieve their objectives.
