Debutant Amadou Onana (£5.0m) and substitute Jhon Duran (£6.0m) scored the goals as Aston Villa got off to a winning start on Saturday.
We’ve got the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from West Ham United v Aston Villa in this Scout Notes article.
WATKINS RETURNS
The headline news ahead of kick-off was the inclusion of Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) in Aston Villa’s starting XI.
The striker hadn’t featured in pre-season after his late return from international duty and subsequently looked rusty.
Zero shots and only two penalty box touches arrived, before Unai Emery took him off after an hour.
A poor day individually, then, but 60 minutes in the tank ahead of Villa’s tasty Gameweek 3 run.
Instead, Emery turned to Jhon Duran, the subject of intense transfer speculation over the summer.
The Colombian stepped up, however, firing in Jacob Ramsey’s (£5.5m) low cross past Alphonse Areola (£4.5m) with 11 minutes remaining.
“It was a very important goal. He’s completely involved with us after coming back from his holidays and after [representing] his national team. There will be more rumours about him after his goal, but I believe in him. I gave him 30 minutes today and he’s very important to us.” – Unai Emery on Jhon Duran
DIGNE ADVANCED
Jhon Duran’s goal was created by Ramsey, but fellow substitute Ian Maatsen (£5.0m) played his part with a nice touch town.
The left-back, who arrived from Chelsea for £37.5m in June, isn’t yet a starter, but Lucas Digne’s (£4.5m) role on Saturday suggests he’ll have an extremely high ceiling when he gets his hands on the shirt.
With John McGinn (£5.5m) tucking in from left-midfield, Digne enjoyed plenty of space down his flank.
He racked up 18 final-third touches – more than any team-mate except Leon Bailey (£6.5m) – and five crosses, all from open play.
Always looking to get in behind West Ham’s defence, it’s a promising sign for Maatsen, particularly with Alex Moreno (£4.5m) close to leaving.
Above: Aston Villa’s passing network v West Ham, via StatsBomb
ROGERS LIVELY
Villa played some decent football on Saturday evening, with pre-season favourite Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) unlucky not to return.
He played in support of Watkins rather than out on the left, carrying the ball well and causing problems on the counter-attack.
With two shots, two key passes and some bright moments not captured by the stats, the only thing missing was a return.
The departure of Moussa Diaby to Saudi has opened the door to more minutes for Rogers, but a slight threat to his starts is the return to fitness – and form – of Jacob Ramsey.
Rogers is growing in confidence every time he plays, however, an encouraging sign for his 8.9% ownership.
Other Villans impressed in East London, too.
Leon Bailey was Villa’s outlet down the right, hitting the post from a tight angle in the first half, while Onana and Youri Tielemans (£5.5m) excelled in the middle of the park, combining for Villa’s opener and both securing bonus.
LOPETEGUI’S POOR START
This was West Ham’s first competitive match under Julen Lopetegui, but they got off to the worst possible start, conceding from a set-piece just four minutes in.
Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) later hauled them level from the penalty spot, but the early goal concession set the tone for a poor display.
Aside from the lively Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) and a late flurry of Tomas Soucek (£5.0m) chances, there wasn’t a great deal to shout about.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) and Michail Antonio (£5.5m) were particularly disappointing, with the former failing to register a single shot.
West Ham do at least have options off the bench this year, with summer signings Crysencio Summerville (£6.0m) and Niclas Fullkrug (£7.0m) introduced on 73 minutes.
That said, with Crystal Palace and Manchester City up next, they’ll need to improve quickly.
A surprisingly upbeat Bowen said:
“We got into some really good positions but there were times where we gave the ball away and times where it was the final finish and putting the ball into the back of the net. You could see [the impact of the new Head Coach] with the way we pressed higher up the pitch. We turned the ball over a few times in really dangerous positions.
“I thought there were signs with the ball too. We spoke about the final ball not being right, but those positions we got in, with the interchange and link-up play, the crosses and the numbers we got into the box [were there] and on another day those chances fall for us and they go in.
“It’s a really exciting time with the new manager and new ideas. There were signs today that there were things that were clicking and coming into play. Now it’s down to us to show it. There are positives there to take for sure, but like I said before we’re in a results business. We’ve lost the game and we’re disappointed with that.” – Jarrod Bowen
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