We continue our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 7 write-ups with analysis of West Ham United v Brentford.
For a briefer summary of Saturday’s games click here, while the recap of Sunday’s four matches is available here.
WEST HAM UNITED 1-2 BRENTFORD
- Goals: Jarrod Bowen (£6.3m) | Bryan Mbeumo (£5.5m), Yoane Wissa (£5.9m)
- Assists: Tomas Soucek (£5.9m) | Sergi Canos (£5.5m), Pontus Jansson (£4.6m)
- Bonus: Soucek x3, Wissa x2, Mbeumo x1
MBEUMO ON TARGET
The ‘out of position’ Bryan Mbeumo (£5.5m) impressed again on Sunday, as the differential midfielder netted his second goal since Gameweek 5.
However, owners were perhaps unfortunate not to receive more than eight FPL points, as he missed a couple of early chances, including a strike which hit the bar.
Incredibly, it was the fourth time he has hit the woodwork this season (see below). For context, Harry Kane (£12.1m) led the way with eight across the entire 2020/21 campaign.
Mbeumo ended the match with four goal attempts, two shots in the box and 0.79 expected goals (xG), a total which comfortably trumped Ivan Toney’s (£6.3m) 0.08.
For the second Gameweek in a row, Yoane Wissa (£5.9m) arrived off the bench and grabbed a goal in the final stages of the game. The £8.5m summer signing from Lorient is still yet to start a Premier League match, but is certainly staking a claim for a place in Thomas Frank’s XI.
Elsewhere, Pontus Jansson (£4.6m) bagged his third assist of the season, and has now provided either an attacking return or clean sheet in six of his seven Premier League appearances.
With 12 points from five games, Brentford have had an excellent start to the season, and following their Gameweek 8 matchup against Chelsea, embark on a kind run which will surely see huge Fantasy interest in the likes of Mbeumo and Toney.
BEES INJURY LATEST
Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) was ruled out on Sunday with a hamstring injury, and as a result, will miss Norway’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers during the international break. However, he is expected to be available for Gameweek 8.
Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) picked up a minor thigh injury during the warm-up and dropped out, while Shandon Baptiste (£5.0m) was replaced on 29 minutes with a dislocated shoulder.
Discussing the disruptions caused by injury, Thomas Frank said:
“I think it’s an even bigger result, we all know we have the lowest budget [in the league]. I am very satisfied with my squad but of course, we don’t have maybe as much quality or as much experience especially, but players are just ready to step in, missing three key players today. The ones who stepped in – Zanka, Mathias and Frank – so very pleased with that and got that win in the end, which you know maybe a draw could have been a deserved one but we definitely, in even games, you can nick it in the end and we did that today. There were three other games earlier this season where we should have won but we didn’t, but so pleased with the mentality.”
BOWEN CONTINUES FINE FORM
A late Jarrod Bowen (£6.3m) goal means that the 24-year-old has now provided an attacking return in each of the last three Gameweeks. During that time, he has netted a goal, supplied two assists and outscored his more popular team-mate Said Benrahma (£6.6m) by 17 FPL points to 15.
Opening up the comparison across the opening seven Gameweeks reveals that Bowen has produced better underlying numbers in several key metrics, too, including shots in the box, big chances and expected goal involvement (xGI).
Jarrod Bowen v Said Benrahma key attacking statistics summary 2021/22
As for Michail Antonio (£8.0m), the highest-scoring forward in the game blanked for just the second time this season. However, owners will surely hold given his impressive start to the season, though the fixtures for West Ham aren’t straightforward:
Tomas Soucek (£5.9m) grabbed a rather fortunate assist, though manager David Moyes’ did suggest in his post-match interview that the Czech international is struggling to find his best form this season:
“Tomas has not quite got on the end of things as well and things have not fallen for him. He scored last week but it was chalked out at Leeds.
I think he is fighting for a wee bit of his best form. Is it to do with Declan getting forward a bit more? Well I am hoping the two of them, can get goals and gives us two goalscoring midfield players but I think Tomas has struggled a wee bit.”
West Ham XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals, Antonio
Brentford XI: Raya, Zanka, Jansson, Pinnock, Canos, Baptiste (Jensen 29), Norgaard, Onyeka (Bidstrup 81), Henry, Mbeumo (Wissa 82), Toney
