In the previous 1-1 draw with Brentford, manager Julen Lopetegui took the decision to finally start new signing Jean-Clair Todibo in the Premier League following his transfer move to West Ham. Despite the fact that the Hammers conceded the first goal in the opening minute itself, Todibo looked reliable alongside Kilman at the heart of the defence and helped West Ham in having a good defensive solidity for the rest of the match. Therefore, Todibo started the Ipswich Town fixture as well which was his first Premier League start at the London Stadium in front of the West Ham fans.
Here, West Ham took the lead in the first minute after winning the ball possession inside Ipswich Town's half but conceded the equalising goal as well five minutes later. Therefore, the visitors started advancing into the West Ham half to find the go ahead goal in the match, but were kept away from scoring with some excellent defensive work by Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman. Kilman helped West Ham to organise the defence alongside goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and Todibo made a number of important tackles and interventions to keep the score at 1-1.
Jean-Clair Todibo brilliant on his first start at home for West Ham
Ipswich Town's new centre forward Liam Delap continued his goalscoring form with his near post finish to level the visitors at 1-1 after creating some space near the edge of the box. After that Todibo marked the U21 England star around the box and didn't let Delap attempt another effort on goal. Further, the 24-year-old France international used his physicality and aerial ability to win several duels against Delap and continuously won the ball possession and started West Ham's build up play on multiple occasions.
While Ipswich Town are a newly promoted side, Todibo displayed why the Hammers decided to make him their priority signing in the transfer window as he kept away the visitors resilience to find more goals in the first half. This centre-back partnership of Kilman and Todibo helped in giving West Ham some composure and defensive reliability to move forward and score more goals. Manager Julen Lopetegui will want a similar kind of performance from his defence and attack when they will face Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester United in two consecutive massive fixtures in the Premier League after the international break.