This decision often sees Madueke isolated on the right side, giving him a lack of involvement in the possession. Players that cannot get in a rhythm and build confidence end up struggling to find success in a game, especially in Madueke's winger position. While Madueke thrives in 1v1 situations, his chances to produce 40 yards from goal are not high. Levi Colwill scored a fantastic header off the whipped in cross from Palmer, unfortunately for them was quickly called off due to offsides. That was arguably the best chance of the game for Chelsea in a lifeless team.
Fulham actually lead the game in possession with 52.9%. An Enzo Maresca coached side having the lesser half of possession is a rare sighting, being just the 5th time in 18 Premier League matches Chelsea haven't had the majority of possession. Another lazy cameo from Nkunku saw the ball-watching Stamford Bridge side get out chanced and out scored, resulting in an embarrassing defeat against their close rivals. Maresca's side needed to answer these upsetting results with a big win against another tough test in a Monday night showdown at Portman Road Stadium, as the newly promoted Ipswich hosted Chelsea. Coming into the match, ITFC had yet to win a Premier League match at home.
An early penalty given to Ipswich caused by a tackle gone wrong from another newly promoted feature, Danish goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen. Striker Liam Delap sold the dive and finished off the act, smashing the penalty into the bottom left corner past Jörgensen. It seemed the entire game Chelsea was playing against Ipswich and the referees, something that could be noticed by an unbiased eye. The mistake dug the whole deeper for a side already drowning in their own mistakes.
Ipswich's second goal came from a mistake from Axel Disasi, a center back playing in a right back role, while there were three right backs on the bench including captain Reece James, Malo Gusto, and Josh Acheampong. A bad pass backwards towards Disasi's own goal was picked off by striker Liam Delap, passing to be finished off by midfielder Omari Hutchinson who was sold from Chelsea to Ipswich this past summer. A stellar finish and an even better cartwheel and backflip celebration cemented the result and ensured the visitors fell short again.
Maresca ensured prior to the game that there will be changes, and there definitely was. Maresca started Joao Felix who produced one of the worst first half performances in Chelsea history. As a big Felix fan, it was humiliating and disappointing to see him perform at such a poor level, repeatedly committing mistakes leading to chances the other way. A 55 minute shift from Felix was ended by being subbed off for Nicolas Jackson. Felix did scored a goal during this match with a rather impressive off an indirect free kick, but it would not count as it was called off due to offsides.