Ipswich Town are now finally on the board in the Premier League when it comes to points, with the last top-flight game before the international break comes into full swing seeing the Tractor Boys pick up a 1-1 draw versus Fulham.
Bettering Marco Silva’s side in terms of shots in the even contest at Portman Road, Kieran McKenna and Co will take plenty of positives away from the game, after finding the Premier League to be initially overwhelming, to say the least with Liverpool and Manchester City their first two daunting fixtures.
Kieran-McKenna-Ipswich-1
A number of summer buys started the clash against the visitors from West London, including former Luton Town man Chiedozie Ogbene, who looked competent on his top-flight debut for his new employers.
Ogbene’s performance vs Fulham
The fresh Ipswich number 21 would last 88 minutes out on the Portman Road turf in the 1-1 draw, but did struggle at points to really make an impact as a forceful presence down the right.
Ogbene would fail to register a single shot on Bernd Leno’s net, whilst only managing to amass 30 touches of the ball, compared to the likes of Omari Hutchinson who accumulated 52 touches as a far livelier attacking option on the day.
Chiedozie-Ogbene-Ipswich
But, he did show himself to be a committed player to the cause even if he wasn’t the most electric when venturing forward, which will come in handy as Ipswich expect to battle against the drop for the majority of the season to come, with eight duels successfully won and four tackles made.
The attacking side of his game will come to the forefront, as Ogbene gets used to playing in the elite league once more, where he managed to bag four goals from 30 clashes last season for Rob Edwards’ plucky Hatters.
The brand new £8m signing even headed home an effort away at Anfield last season to give Luton a shock lead, before the Reds’ home advantage prevailed.
Ipswich will hope he can get back to his best in the tough division soon, hoping they don’t rue not picking up an Ogbene upgrade on transfer deadline day, someone who is even more proven in the Premier League.
What Nelson would have offered Ipswich
Coincidentally, Reiss Nelson – who had many an admirer at the death – was picked up by Ipswich’s last league opponents in Fulham in the end, as Arsenal allowed their homegrown winger another chance to impress out on loan away from the Emirates Stadium.
Amassing 90 appearances for the Gunners across his senior career to date in North London, with a respectable return of eight goals and nine assists managed, the £20m talent has also shown his class when shipped to other outfits temporarily with Feyenoord and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim fans still holding a definite soft spot for the 24-year-old attacker.
Nelson’s Arsenal record + out on loan record
League/Team
Games
Goals
Assists
Arsenal
90
8
9
Feyenoord
32
4
7
Hoffenheim
29
7
1
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Exploding into life when playing out in the Netherlands and Germany in the past, with a combined 19 goal contributions managed from those two memorable stints, McKenna would have loved to have been able to call upon Nelson as another option in his attack, away from the likes of Ogbene, Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics.
Once labelled as a “dangerous” attacking threat by football analyst Ben Mattinson, even when he wasn’t starting week in week out for Mikel Arteta’s men, Nelson could have also been utilised by the relegation favourites as an impact substitute presence, knowing full well he has worked wonders for Arsenal previously late on.
Ipswich’s loss looks like it could well be Fulham’s gain, as the Tractor Boys aim to stay afloat in the Premier League with what they already have at their disposal.
Ogbene will hope he can play his part in keeping the underdogs up, with the ex-Luton man not wanting to swallow the bitter pill of relegation two seasons on the spin.
Luke-Woolfenden-Luongo-Ipswich-Town
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