Brighton gain their first away victory in the top flight as they exploit West Ham’s malaise to intensify the pressure on manager Slaven Bilic. Here’s the notes from Gameweek 9’s opening encounter.
Clinical Brighton compound Hammers misery
A brace from Glenn Murray together with a long-range blast from Jose Izquierdo consigned West Ham to a damaging home defeat.
In Fantasy terms, the Seagulls’ victory was notable for another assist for Pascal Gross for Murray’s opener. The German’s perfectly flighted free-kick was flicked home by the striker, giving Gross his fourth assist of the campaign.
Along with two goals against West Brom in Gameweek 4, Gross has now scored or assisted 67% of Brighton’s goals when on the pitch. It moved him to 48 points and means that he currently tops the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standings for points per million among midfielders on 8.4.
Gross is placed third for transfers in following last night’s tally, having gained over 685,000 owners since his Gameweek 4 haul against the Baggies.
Brighton face an attractive home fixture with an erratic Southampton in Gameweek 10, followed by clashes with Swansea City (a) and Stoke City (h).
That run of three matches promotes further interest in Gross, along with Chris Hughton’s defence which impressed in standing firm at the London Stadium.
Shane Duffy is perhaps the standout candidate in that disciplined rearguard. He again bettered centre-back partner Lewis Dunk for clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI) – a key metric in the Bonus Points System (BPS). Duffy has made more CBI than any other defender this season.
Marcus Suttner can perhaps be discounted from our thoughts. The Austrian dropped to the bench for a second successive away match with Gaëtan Bong preferred at left-back.
In attack, Murray’s brace hints that he could yet be a budget forward solution. However, at 5.7, he sits in the same bracket as Swansea’s Tammy Abraham who is perhaps a preferred target at this point.
It’s also worth noting that Tomer Hemed has now served out his suspension and will compete for minutes with Murray once more from Gameweek 10.
Cresswell makes way
West Ham’s Fantasy stock is perhaps at an all-time low this season after a humbling home defeat.
Aaron Cresswell‘s run of returns – which brought 22 points from Gameweeks 4-7 – has now come to an abrupt end after his manager opted for Arthur Masuaku at left-back.
The Frenchman had impressed in cameo roles – providing two assists – in recent Gameweeks. He was one of the less culpable Hammers players on show in Friday’s contest and would seem likely to retain his start for a Gameweek 10 trip to Crystal Palace.
But Masuaku, along with his team-mates, are unlikely to be of interest to Fantasy managers given the current form and confidence on show.
Chicharito‘s ownership continues to slide after another largely ineffective performance – he’s now scored just once in his last seven Gameweek appearances.
It will likely be left to Andy Carroll to revive Hammers fortunes at Palace, with the striker surely set to return to the starting line-up having served out his suspension last night.
Elsewhere, both Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini have the talent to eventually tempt investment but, at present, that seems most unlikely.
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