It’s time for the remaining two of Saturday’s Gameweek 27 matches to come under the Scout Notes spotlight.

Here are the key talking points from West Ham United 0-0 Bournemouth and Aston Villa 1-1 Leeds United.

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• READ MORE: FPL notes: James’ fitness, Estevao injury + Chelsea’s set-piece woes
• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 27: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points

MORE HILL JOY AS CHERRIES RIDE THEIR LUCK

James Hill (£4.0m) is in stellar company in the defender form charts (F, above), having pocketed 35 points in the last five Gameweeks.

He added another clean sheet to his name on Saturday, in what was his ninth successive start. Bournemouth have only lost one of those games, and that was to Arsenal.

Much like in the Wolverhampton Wanderers match, however, the Cherries rode their luck on the way to this clean sheet.

Axel Disasi (£4.5m) came very close with two blocked efforts from a set piece early on, while Crysencio Summerville (£5.7m), Callum Wilson (£5.8m) and Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) all probably should have done better with close-range chances. Hill also brilliantly denied a near-certain Tomas Soucek (£5.7m) goal.

Despite that, the Cherries are looking a bit more solid than they did in the first half of the season. Hill was again the pick of the back four on Saturday, and Andoni Iraola has lavished praise on him week after week.

“I think they are in a very good line of performances. It’s not just today. I think they are coming from even better games, I would say. And it’s very good for us because they are still young players, English players, and that is always difficult to find for us.

“I think the more time they spend in the starting line-ups, the more minutes they get, I think they are going to become better players.” – Andoni Iraola on James Hill and Alex Scott, via the Bournemouth Echo

RAYAN CATCHES THE EYE AGAIN AS TAVERNIER RETURNS

It was a quiet day at the office for Bournemouth’s attackers, with Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.7m) and Evanilson (£6.9m) muted.

The visitors had only two shots, both from distance, in the first hour before the game opened up late on.

Rayan (£5.6m) was stifled for periods, too, but the in-form winger popped up with the moment of the match in the second half, running almost the length of the field before hitting the woodwork. A confident-looking player, the teenage winger fired a powerful shot on target from range early on and had a goalbound effort blocked.

Rayan came SO CLOSE to scoring one of the best goals you're likely to see this season! 🤏

🍒 @afcbournemouth pic.twitter.com/5aJU7CkxjR

— Premier League (@premierleague) February 21, 2026

A blank here but plenty of encouragement for future matches.

Kroupi, a solid 6/10 like many of his teammates, teed up a few chances. He also had his longest run-out in the Premier League this season, lasting till the 89th minute and even briefly going up top after Evanilson came off.

You do sense the walls are closing in a bit with players returning from injury, however. Marcus Tavernier (£5.3m), a brief budget FPL bandwagon himself last month, is the latest name to come back. He played as the ’10’ on his late introduction on Saturday, the position Kroupi has been occupying of late.

“Still they need more training, still they need more minutes to recover their shape but I think it’s good that we can have more options for the starting line-up and also for the second-half subs.” – Andoni Iraola on Marcus Tavernier, David Brooks and Tyler Adams, who have all returned from injury recently

Meanwhile, Lewis Cook (£4.9m) missed out with a hamstring injury and looks set for a short spell out.

SUMMERVILLE IMPRESSIVE AS WEST HAM TIGHTEN UP

Summerville couldn’t add to his recent goal glut but he was West Ham’s best player again. Like Rayan, he looks full of confidence on the ball.

He’ll know himself that he should have done better with an early big chance, while a late shot nearly deflected in. No one on show had more efforts (four):

Above: Players involved in West Ham v Bournemouth sorted by shots taken

Bowen also ought to have scored with a late attempt that Summerville supplied him.

Bowen himself was quieter but, like Summerville, should have had an attacking return; they finished on 0.99 and 1.05 expected goal involvements (xGI) respectively. The club captain’s corners caused havoc, while it was from his cross that Soucek’s effort was blocked. Taty Castallanos (£5.5m) also bicycled kick just wide from a Bowen delivery.

The England international did, at least, bank DefCon points. A ‘forward’ has done that on only five occasions this season – and Bowen has been responsible for four of them.

At the back, West Ham finally broke their clean sheet duck at home. They’re not exactly AC Milan ’93/94 but things have been improving of late, with zero or one goals conceded in five of their last six Premier League outings.

We all know how much Nuno Espirito Santo values a solid backline.

“That’s the first step that we have in our minds, to keep being solid, keep improving. There are still things that we need to click because we realise that as long as we are compact and solid as a team, we always can create situations for a goal.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

The recently restored Mads Hermansen (£4.2m) bagged his second 10-point haul in three Gameweeks.

Above: West Ham’s rolling six-game xG conceded average in 2025/26

ABRAHAM V WATKINS

It was another tepid attacking performance from Aston Villa, who have now scored just five goals in their last seven Premier League matches.

The absence of Youri Tielemans (£5.9m), John McGinn (£5.4m) and Boubacar Kamara (£4.9m) looks to be really biting hard, with the Villans lacking inspiration in the engine room. It’s not a situation that will be any better before Gameweeks 30/31.

“Kamara is [out] for all the season. Youri Tielemans and John McGinn, maybe one month more.” – Unai Emery

With not many dangers elsewhere to focus on, Leeds congested the midfield and largely nullified Morgan Rogers (£7.7m), although Ollie Watkins (£8.6m) should have scored from a Rogers pass. Villa did look better when Ross Barkley (£4.8m) – the closest thing they have to a Tielemans stand-in – came on, so it’ll be interesting to see if Unai Emery unleashes the Scouser at Molineux on Friday.

As for Watkins, a third straight blank means he’s under serious pressure from Tammy Abraham (£6.0m). The two actually shared the pitch as Villa chased a late equaliser but more often that not it’ll be one or the other up top, and it’s the former Chelsea man who looks better in front of goal right now. Having netted in the FA Cup last weekend, Abraham came off the bench here to prod in Ezri Konsa‘s (£4.4m) knock-down.

You’d imagine he’ll get one of the next two league matches from the start, although the Friday-Wednesday turnaround is the most generous in the division.

SUPER STACH

Leeds were well worthy of a point here as their excellent run of performances and results continued. They’ve lost just two of their last 14 Premier League matches, and one of those really should have been a draw with Newcastle United. Only in the Arsenal game have they been comprehensively outplayed.

While Amadou Onana (£4.8m) and Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) had good set-play chances saved and blocked, the Whites limited Villa’s clear-cut openings. Ten of the hosts’ 16 shots, indeed, came from outside the box.

Leeds had just as many gilt-edged opportunities, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) and Lukas Nmecha (£5.0m) well denied by Emi Martinez (£5.1m).

But it was a low-xG effort that broke the deadlock. Anton Stach (£4.7m) made it 10 attacking returns for the season with a sublime free-kick from distance, his third such goal in 2025/26.

With his occasional DefCon returns (he was just one contribution away from banking more of those here), his points-per-start average is at a very good 5.1:

Above: Midfielders sorted by point per start this season (min. 10 apps)

It feels like there is a wealth of viable midfielders in FPL at present but given his dirt-cheap price tag, Stach is a stand-out option for managers who are perhaps moving to a 3-4-3 to incorporate Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m) up top.

He’s playing in a more advanced role at present, too, as one of the two attacking midfielders behind Calvert-Lewin:

Elsewhere, Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m) bagged DefCon points for the 12th time this season. Only two midfielders can better than in 2025/26.