Lingard limps off as Cresswell absence affects West Ham’s attack and defence

Newcastle 3-2 West Ham

• Goals: Joelinton (£5.7m), Joe Willock (£4.7m) | Issa Diop (£4.3m), Jesse Lingard (£6.6m)
• Own goals: Diop
• Assists: Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.1m), Matt Ritchie x2 (£4.9m) | Jarrod Bowen (£6.0m), Vladimir Coufal (£4.6m)
• Red cards: Craig Dawson (£4.5m)
• Bonus points: Joelinton x3, Ritchie x2, Miguel Almirón x1 (£5.6m)

DON’T CRAMP MY STYLE

Fantasy Premier League managers need to keep an eye on David Moyes’ next team news update after Jesse Lingard (£6.6m) limped off during West Ham’s Double Gameweek 32 defeat to Newcastle.

Following his recent form, the mid-priced midfielder has quickly become a key asset, now in 29.7% of teams and owned by 83.2% of the current top 10,000 FPL managers.

His goal-scoring run extended to a ninth in West Ham colours on Saturday, his best-ever goal-tally in a Premier League season, which is why so many managers held their breath when Lingard went down for late treatment at Newcastle.

During his post-match press conference, Moyes revealed he had no spoken to the medical staff yet but suspected Lingard had only suffered from cramp, which appears to be why the player does not have a flag on FPL.

“I think it was just cramp but I have not had a chance to speak to the physio but I don’t think it was too bad.” – David Moyes

CRESSWELL SOON

Despite adding a 13th attacking return in 10 matches, this was admittedly one of Lingard’s quieter performances in a West Ham shirt.

There was concern that the absence of Michail Antonio (£6.5m) would hinder his productivity against Leicester, a claim the England international put to bed emphatically with his Gameweek 31 brace.

However, the Hammers were without further key personnel against Newcastle, the absence of Aaron Cresswell (£5.8m) and Arthur Masuaku (£4.3m) leaving them somewhat short of creativity on the left-hand side.

The two defenders had operated as the left-sided centre-back and left wing-back in each of the previous two matches, while Angelo Ogbonna (£4.7m) and Ben Johnson (£3.9m) fulfilled those roles at St. James’ Park.

With neither of them able to match their stricken team-mates level of creativity, West Ham struggled to sustain long periods of pressure inside Newcastle’s half which consequently forced Lingard to drop deep from his makeshift centre-forward role to make things happen, largely in vain.

“Overall we are really pleased with him, he was quieter today I know he got us the goal but in general, he was quieter.” – David Moyes

Meanwhile, Lingard was forced to take over some of Cresswell’s set-piece duties in Double Gameweek 32, pulling him further away from the danger area.

His delivery was not as strong as Cresswell’s either, so the Hammers were unable to ask as many questions in dead-ball situations as they would have liked.

This season, Cresswell has produced 0.7 successful corners per match while Lingard is yet to register his first.

Those invested in the West Ham attack may also want to keep an eye on the defender’s fitness as well as Lingard’s between now and Blank Gameweek 33.

“We’re without a few injured players and we’re trying to put on a show. Both (Cresswell and Masuaku) picked up injuries but nevertheless I think we put in a pretty good sterling performance but disappointed with the third goal. Hopefully, get them both back quite quickly but no time frame on it.” – David Moyes

Still, provided he is still fit to face Chelsea next Saturday, Lingard may still have a say in the penalty pecking order at West Ham.

He dispatched the Hammers’ second-half spot-kick although it did come with two caveats. In striking the post before his effort went in, Lingard came close to a third successive penalty miss while Mark Noble (£4.5m) had come off the field five minutes before it was struck.

Meanwhile, Jarrod Bowen (£6.0m) has now produced attacking returns in each of his last four Premier League matches and has spent significant portions of the last three as an out-of-position centre-forward.

SCORES ON THE DAWS

West Ham continue to feel the absence of Declan Rice (£4.7m) keenly, their defence struggling to keep things tight without him in the team.

Between Gameweeks 1 and 29, the Hammers conceded 1.2 goals per game. Since Rice’s knee injury, they have given up 2.3 per match.

As the sample size continues to increase, now up to three matches, faith in West Ham defence is understandably dipping.

The lack of Cresswell was also a key factor in Double Gameweek 32, of course, and they were not helped by some woeful defensive errors by Issa Diop (£4.3m) and Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) as well as Craig Dawson’s (£4.5m) first-half red card.

The former Watford man will now miss the Blank Gameweek 33 meeting with Chelsea. Considering how obliging West Ham have been without Rice, and Cresswell a potential absentee as well as Dawson at the London Stadium, owners of Mason Mount (£7.2m) and his midfield colleagues are surely licking their lips.

“(Asked about conceding 10 goals in the last four games) You’re right. It’s not good. Today was different. It was about individual mistakes more than anything else.” – David Moyes

Still, Vladimir Coufal (£4.6m) persists in belying West Ham’s defensive struggles after he recorded his seventh assist of the season in Double Gameweek 32.

In forcing the handball for the Hammers’ penalty, he has now assisted in each of the last three matches, conceding at least twice on all those occasions but scoring four FPL points all the same.

Finally, Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.1m) put on another impressive performance for Newcastle on Saturday, adding his third goal involvement since his Gameweek 30 return.

With plenty of space to exploit between West Ham’s back-three and Rice-less midfield, he helped the Magpies enjoy being on the front foot for large spells at St. James’ Park.

Newcastle face Liverpool (away), Arsenal (home), Leicester (away) and Manchester City (home) between now and Gameweek 36 so investment in the budget midfielder is hardly pressing.

But, provided he can overcome a swollen ankle, Saint-Maximin could represent an exciting punt for Gameweek 37 and 38 matches against Sheffield United (home) and Fulham (away) respectively.

“Allan Saint-Maximin has a bad swollen ankle. We hope he’s okay.” – Steve Bruce

The same goes for Callum Wilson (£6.5m) who is yet to start since his Gameweek 31 return from a hamstring issue. 

“Look, the temptation is always to throw them in. We think Allan’s a week ahead of Callum in terms of what he’s put in on the training pitch and played. There’s a bit of caution with Callum because he has been out a long time. He’s trained well all week so another week’s training ahead of him and hopefully, he’ll be ready to start.” – Steve Bruce

Newcastle United XI (3-4-3): Dubravka; Dummett, Clark, Fernández; Ritchie, Shelvey, S Longstaff (Willock 81′), Murphy; Almirón, Joelinton (Carroll 90+8′), Saint-Maximin (Wilson 64′).

West Ham United XI (3-4-1-2): Fabianski; Ogbonna, Diop, Dawson; Johnson (Fredericks 90+5′), Soucek, Noble (Benrahma 75′), Coufal; Fornals; Lingard (Lanzini 87′), Bowen.

Double Gameweek 32 so far…

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek