We’ve got the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) notes, quotes and stats from West Ham United v Brighton and Hove Albion in this Scout Notes article.
AREOLA DENIES BRIGHTON
Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) produced eight saves to help West Ham earn their fourth clean sheet in a row on Tuesday.
Having secured bonus for the third successive match, the Frenchman is now up to second in the Fantasy goalkeeper standings, remarkably just three points behind Alisson Becker (£5.7m).
Most of Albion’s shots went straight at Areola, resulting in routine saves, but he did pull off a few important stops, namely from Pascal Gross (£6.4m) and Danny Welbeck (£5.7m).
“He’s played really well for us and has made some big saves. He has a big presence in goal. There were bits of his distribution I’d like to be better and hopefully we can work on things to get that better but his overall performance was excellent. We need a good goalkeeper and I’m really pleased we have another clean sheet.” – David Moyes on Alphonse Areola
In a game missing that ‘X factor’ moment, West Ham rode their luck but will be particularly pleased with another shut-out, given that they were without first-choice defenders Kurt Zouma (£4.5m, knee), Nayef Aguerd (£4.5m, AFCON) and Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m, illness).
“I’m thrilled with the result and to get the point. I thought Brighton played very well and were the better team. They had a few chances and their goalkeeper made some good saves. I think we might have had the best chance of the game with Tomas Soucek but when it didn’t go in, I said to myself ‘we probably need to fight our way to a 0-0’ and the players did a great job in getting that.
“When you are playing really good teams, which we have been especially in this Christmas period, we’ve had to be really compact defensively and as organised as we can be. Tonight we lacked the quality that might make the difference at the other end of the pitch when we have the ball. But we are playing with two centre-halves who haven’t played that much recently and a full-back who is the same. I thought the boys at the back have done a brilliant job. They have done what they had to do and my goalkeeper played very well. We got a point from it.” – David Moyes
ALBION EARN FIRST CLEAN SHEET OF SEASON
Speaking of clean sheets, Brighton finally have their first in the Premier League this season.
Previously on a club record run of 23 successive league games without a shut-out, they enjoyed nearly 70% possession here, restricting West Ham to just six shots and 0.68 expected goals (xG).
Without the suspended Lewis Dunk (£5.0m), they lined up in a 3-4-3 system, with Pervis Estupinan (£4.9m) tucking in alongside centre-halves Adam Webster (£4.2m) and Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.0m).
It left Jack Hinshelwood (£4.5m) and James Milner (£4.8m) providing the width, so it wasn’t a huge surprise Brighton weren’t as potent as usual.
As for Estupinan, he started his first match since Gameweek 7 and did create a couple of chances, but the deeper role did curtail his attacking threat, with nine other Brighton players (including substitutes) receiving more passes in the final-third.
It’s one to monitor, but the fact he is just back from injury could be one of the reasons why he was lining up a bit deeper, given how physically demanding the wing-back position is.
“Webster and Estupinan were maybe not in the right condition to start in the XI but they made themselves available to play and they did really well.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Above: Pervis Estupinan’s touch heatmap v West Ham United in Gameweek 20
HAMMERS MISS KUDUS + PAQUETA
With Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) out with a knee injury and Mohammed Kudus (£6.9m) gone to AFCON, the limitations in West Ham’s squad were exposed.
The pair had created five of the Hammers’ nine ‘big chances’ in December and the counter-attack was far less dangerous without Paqueta’s creativity and Kudus’ ball-carrying ability.
Their replacements Said Benrahma (£5.6m) and Pablo Fornals (£4.6m) have served West Ham well down the years, but there is a drop off in attacking quality, which David Moyes will need to manage in the coming weeks.
James Ward-Prowse (£6.0m) and Tomas Soucek (£4.9m) were responsible for their best efforts, but Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) failed to register a shot for the second successive match.
He did hit the post in the first half, something the stats won’t pick up with the effort subsequently flagged offside, but it was generally a subdued display from him where he often looked isolated.
“They have made a huge impact on the team. It’s very difficult to replace them.” – David Moyes on missing Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus
GROSS A THREAT
Brighton racked up 22 shots and 2.48 xG, meanwhile, with some of their best chances falling to Pascal Gross.
The German saw a first-half header saved when he should have done better and missed another ‘big chance’ late on from Jakub Moder’s (£4.4m) cross.
He also created two chances for his team-mates.
Despite failing to score, there was an increased threat to Brighton’s attacks as the match went on, with Adam Lallana’s (£4.9m) introduction from the bench making a difference.
Looking ahead, the forthcoming fixtures are very good, with Albion top of the ticker from Gameweeks 21 to 28, so Gross’ 3.8% ownership will surely continue to rise as we approach the next deadline.
“We had eight clear chances to score and I am pleased with the understanding of the way we wanted to play. It was an amazing game, one of the best in my time. We played a smart game with a clear idea, we didn’t take any risk in our build-up.
“We made some mistake in the last pass, shot, assist or cross and the [West Ham] keeper played another great game, but I was delighted with the performance. We have a lot of injured players but we showed great spirit and character.” – Roberto De Zerbi
