The key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Sheffield United 2-2 West Ham United are covered in this Scout Notes article.
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BOWEN BLANKS
Jarrod Bowen (£8.1m) was passed fit to start at Bramall Lane on Sunday but wasn’t massively involved, blanking for the second successive match.
Playing through the middle, he dragged an early shot wide of the far post and did have a couple of half-chances, but was tightly marked throughout and didn’t get much service.
Instead, it was forgotten man Danny Ings (£5.6m) who was West Ham’s best attacker.
Deployed in behind Bowen in David Moyes’ 4-2-3-1 formation, he played a part in both goals, first assisting Maxwel Cornet (£5.2m) before winning the penalty which was subsequently converted by James Ward-Prowse (£6.0m).
Ings also attempted six shots of his own, a match-leading total, including two late efforts which were blocked from close range.
Without Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) and Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m), the Hammers looked short of creativity in Tuesday’s FA Cup third round replay defeat by Bristol City and they lacked fluency here.
Yes, they racked up 16 shots and 2.27 expected goals (xG), but there was a different dynamic in attack without Paqueta and Kudus, which ultimately wasn’t good enough.
“It was not good, probably our worst performance of the season as far as quality on the ball and quality of decisions.
“I wouldn’t like to blame the pitch but the pitch was quite hard, but I’d only be making excuses if I’d done that. That may be a reason for some of the poor passing in the first half.
“Our standards are not where we want them to be.” – David Moyes
WHY AREOLA WAS SUBBED OFF
In a dramatic finale at Bramall Lane, there were two red cards, a penalty and an equaliser, all in injury time.
There was a goalkeeper substitution before the spot-kick too, with Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) forced off and replaced by Lukasz Fabianski (£4.2m).
The Frenchman, owned by 36.5% of managers in FPL, had tried to punch the ball away but completely missed and gave away the penalty, cutting his lip in the process.
He then had to leave the pitch to be treated, forcing Moyes to make a substitution in order to have a goalkeeper.
Moyes didn’t mention the injury in his post-match presser but made his feelings clear on the penalty decision when talking about Areola, saying “Absolutely, he was fouled. I think it was a foul on the goalkeeper”.
Elsewhere, Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m) was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. He will now sit out the home clash with Bournemouth in Gameweek 22.
DIAZ DEBUT
Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.0m) started and scored on his Premier League debut, in a lively showing on Sunday.
The on-loan Villarreal man had four shots in the box, including two Opta-defined ‘big chances’.
Admittedly, his finishing wasn’t always of the highest quality, with a scuffed second-half shot when clean through failing to work Areola, but he undoubtedly makes United’s attack better.
“I thought his all-round play was great. It’s difficult making your debut in the Premier League against West Ham on a windy, cold Sheffield afternoon but I thought he was outstanding. He’ll be disappointed he didn’t get a second but we knew he had 55 minutes in him because of the amount of football he’s been playing.
“His attitude and his play, he’s here for assists and he’s here for goals and it’s a good start for him and he’s fitted in brilliantly and he’s a good player and a good character to have around.” – Chris Wilder on Ben Brereton Diaz
Sheffield United are the lowest scorers in the top-flight but a £5.0m midfielder playing up front – albeit off the left – could pick up a bit of interest, especially with a reasonable run of fixtures coming up.
Meanwhile, Diaz’s start meant Cameron Archer (£4.4m) had to settle for a place on the bench once again.
Even when William Osula (£4.3m) was hooked at half-time, it was target man Oli McBurnie (£5.4m) chosen to replace him.
All three of Diaz, Osula and McBurnie returned here, the latter for the third home league match in a row, which suggests Archer could struggle to get back in anytime soon.
United will be one forward down for the next three matches, however, after Rhian Brewster (£4.9m) was given a straight red card after a VAR review for his challenge on Emerson Palmieri (£4.6m).
Elsewhere, James McAtee (£4.4m) was excellent and really should have had an assist to his name.
“That is the least we deserved, I thought we were really good. My side has character, resilience and a bit of bottle. We have to bridge the gap and we have some good players. We had to go more direct at points but we were more than that today.
“I felt we had control of the game and for Ben [Brereton Diaz] to get a goal, he will be an asset for us. It has been a decent day for us.
“David Moyes will say he has had decisions go against him but I don’t think that should have been a red card for Brewster. Their keeper makes an unbelievably rash decision to come out and we get rewards.” – Chris Wilder
