Ipswich Town: The perfect like-for-like Conor Chaplin replacement is Anders Dreyer | OneFootball

Highlights

Conor Chaplin has been one of the most important players for any side in the entire Championship this season.

The playmaker is one of the first names on the teamsheet at Ipswich Town, with Kieran McKenna's team chasing automatic promotion to the Premier League.

He has made the step up from League One remarkably well, and is showing week-in and week-out that he could have what it takes to compete in the top flight.

Chaplin has a contract at Portman Road until the summer of 2026, meaning the Tractor Boys are in a strong negotiating position if interest does arrive for the playmaker. They also have a chance of offering him Premier League football come the summer as well.

However, the Suffolk outfit should still be planning for life without Chaplin in case transfer interest arrives this summer.

Here we use Fbref's similar profile tool to look at potential replacements for the 27-year-old (all stats also from Fbref, as of 21 February)...

Conor Chaplin’s Ipswich stats

Ipswich's Chaplin has scored 10 goals from an expected goals (xG) of 8.7 this season, also providing six assists from an expected assisted goals (xAG) of 2.9.

This over-performance has been important in powering Ipswich’s run to the automatic promotion battle, and perhaps partly explains why the team cooled off in recent weeks.

The entire team runs through Chaplin, so his cooling off can have a big impact on the overall attack.

As a creative outlet, his pass completion rate is 71.1 percent, which is not too surprising as he has to attempt riskier passes to try and create opportunities, which his impressive number of progressive passes (5.73 per game) highlights.

Chaplin’s greatest strength, however, is creating shots for himself, as he takes 3.74 per 90, which makes him a dangerous threat in the final third in his own right.

The playmaker’s xG per shot is just 0.08, which does indicate that he is taking a few too many long-range efforts that brings down his average, but the overall number is still strong for someone in his position.

But dribbling is a particular weak point in his game, which he will need to improve to find another level as an attacking outlet.

Player most similar to Conor Chaplin

Chaplin’s most similar player, according to Fbref’s numbers, is Anderlecht’s Anders Dreyer.

The Dane has contributed 14 goals and six assists for the Belgian side so far this campaign, with the team sitting second in the table.

He is a regular feature of the team, playing 24 times in the Belgian Pro League A in what is his second term with the club.

Dreyer’s passing isn’t quite on the same level as Chaplin’s, both in terms of accuracy (69.8 percent completion rate) and penetration (3.57 progressive passes per 90).

However, he is more effective at getting touches with the ball in the box (3.88 vs 4.09) and he has a slightly higher xAG per game (0.12 v 0.17).

Dreyer is creating 3.83 shots per game versus 3.56 from Chaplin, but the Ipswich player generates more for himself (3.74 vs 2.74).

The 25-year-old Anderlecht player has a higher combined xG and xAG of 0.46 per 90, compared to Chaplin’s 0.43.