Ipswich Town have been one of the most eye-catching sides in English football so far this season.
Under the guidance of Kieran McKenna, one of – if not the most sought after and promising head coach in the EFL at this moment in time – in almost every Town game this season there has been a guarantee of plenty of goals, having not drawn a blank in a game since February 14th and won the lion’s share of those.
Whilst defensively this season there has been the occasional question mark, with the side being involved in 3-2, 4-3, and 4-2 victories as well as their only defeat – 4-3 at home to Leeds United – the attacking department has been almost flawless.
In the eleven Championship games so far, McKenna’s outfit are the highest scorers of the division with 25 strikes to their name, with 4 of those coming in the victory over Preston North End prior to the recent international break.
It’s no surprise that with these exploits that Ipswich have also averaged the most goals per 90 minutes, with a total of 2.3 as per WhoScored.
The goals have been shared around the squad as well, so with that being said, FLW have decided to compare Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst’s respective starts to the campaign.
Since moving from Wigan Athletic back in January, Broadhead has been just one of a multitude of attacking options at McKenna’s disposal whose numbers reflect their importance to his free-flowing system.
The Wales international accumulated 13 goal contributions at the back end of Ipswich’s promotion-winning campaign and has continued his strong form in the Championship.
He is currently Town’s joint-top scorer with five alongside Conor Chaplin, and, according to WhoScored ratings, has been Ipswich’s best performer so far with an average rating of 7.51. Broadhead is said to average 2.34 shots per 90 minutes as per FootyStats as a result of Town creating chances at will in every game
Broadhead also scored for his country in the recent friendly win over Gibraltar at the Racecourse Ground.
Hirst’s contributions have been just as important as Broadhead’s in terms of Town’s overall standing in the division, despite having two less overall goal contributions with two goals and as many assists, already bettering his previous Championship tallies with Rotherham and Blackburn
It’s clear to see by the WhoScored charts that the profile of the two is completely different, with Hirst showing more physicality in his game, winning 2.1 aerial duels compared to Broadhead’s 0.8 per 90 minutes.
Based on data from FootyStats, Hirst has accumulated a better shot accuracy than Broadhead with 56.25% compared to 50%, both have taken an equal amount of shots this season (16), but Hirst has played one game more. The former Leicester man has also averaged more shots on target as a result, with 1.35 over his companion’s tally of 1.17.
However, when it comes to shot conversion rate it is Broadhead who is clear by double the percentage with a figure of 25% compared to Hirst’s 12.5%.
On top of this, Broadhead has also accumulated more accurate passes (127/161) leaving him with a tally of 78.88% over his fellow forward’s 63.04% (58/92). The Welshman has also created ten more key passes than Hirst with a total of 18.
Both players then, contributing different things to Ipswich’s success and combining well together in the early months of the 2023/24 campaign.
Whilst Conor Chaplin is unquestionably Ipswich’s main man in attack, it is pivotal that the likes of Hirst and Broadhead continue to boost their numbers across the season if Town are to end what would be a 22-year hiatus from the Premier League.
As highlighted by the aforementioned stats, both players’ performances are equally spread out across the varying metrics.
