It has been revealed by Roy Hodgson that Peter Odemwingie’s season has finished early after the striker suffered an ankle injury. He will now certainly miss the Baggies’ last encounter of the season – a trip to the North East to face Newcastle.
The Nigerian forward has been one of the Premier League’s signings of the season, cropping up with 15 goals and 9 assists. This good form has established him as a firm Fantasy Premier League favourite and he currently holds an ownership of 19.7%.
If this final gameweek wasn’t stressful enough, almost one-in-five FPL Managers are now left with another last-gasp decision. At 5.8 Odemwingie stands out remarkably against other cheap forwards and it is generally slim pickings when pondering the rest of this price bracket.
The obvious choice would be Steven Fletcher of Wolves – one of the most in-form players in the league with 5 goals in his last 5 outings as well as 6 FPL bonus points. Priced at just 4.8, he could also free up an extra million for other areas of the squad in need of a last hurrah.
Going off past form, Marc-Antoine Fortune seems the most likely candidate to lead the Baggies line in Odemwingie’s absence. Even with a cheap 5.0 valuation, his record of just 2 goals and 1 assist in 24 Premier League games (albeit mostly as a sub) doesn’t make him particularly attractive. Fortune has rarely completed the full 90 minutes this season, so expect him to be replaced by Ishmael Miller.
With a dwindled potency, West Brom are lacking much attacking potential, a clean-sheet could be on the cards for the Newcastle backline. Those Managers shopping for a goalkeeper look no further than Tim Krul, at 3.9 he is as cheap as they come and holds the capacity to grab some end of season points.
Elsewhere in the Newcastle defence, Jose Enrique is a snip at 4.7 and offers assist and Bonus point potential, respectively notching up 2 and 11 this season. Whilst Steven Taylor has scored in his last 2 Premier League fixtures and is yours for just 3.9.
