Relegation battlers West Ham United carved out a vital 1-0 win at Fulham, on a night where the hosts didn’t use Harry Wilson (£6.0m) or Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), causing many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) autosubs.
Here are our Scout Notes from Craven Cottage.
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NO WILSON OR ANDERSEN
While back-from-illness defender Andersen was just an unused substitute, the ankle problem experienced by Wilson on Sunday kept him entirely out of this matchday squad.
Fulham boss Marco Silva calmed fears that it is worse than initially thought.
“[It] doesn’t look that serious really. The game came very quickly from the last game. Not enough time for him to recover from that moment. We did some exams and it didn’t look anything serious.” – Marco Silva on Harry Wilson
There are 11 days between this and their Gameweek 30 encounter, while the FA Cup could give more clues on Wilson’s readiness.
Of course, the lack of these two caused a lot of autosubs for active FPL managers. Good news for those whose first name on the bench was Elliot Anderson (£5.4m), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m), or a defender from Bournemouth or Sunderland.
SUMMERVILLE TIME?
In truth, without that duo, there was very little FPL interest in this match. Wilson had a huge chance to score – Callum Wilson (£5.8m), that is – from Crysencio Summerville‘s (£5.7m) inswinging cross but, soon after, the deadlock was broken.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno (£4.9m) rushed outside of his box in the 65th minute to chest the ball, but the mix-up between him and Calvin Bassey (£4.4m) allowed Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) to take advantage, setting up Summerville’s calm finish.
The Dutchman has netted five times in eight matches and is another ‘Goals Imminent’ midweek success.
From Gameweek 22 onwards, Summerville ranks third for shots inside the box (17) and fourth for overall attempts (21):
He could be a decent option for Gameweek 32 Wildcard users, especially if the Hammers progress in the FA Cup, potentially facing Crystal Palace and Everton in Double Gameweek 33. Several assumptions are made there, admittedly.
As for Bowen, he’s more expensive and is listed as a forward while actually being a right-sided midfielder. Still, he’s delivered two goals and four assists in his last seven outings, accumulating this season’s sixth-most shots (65).
A TIGHTER WEST HAM DEFENCE
West Ham will be fighting for survival until the end, thanks to four wins and two draws from eight matches. It puts them level on points with Nottingham Forest and, currently, one behind Tottenham Hotspur.
Having only kept one clean sheet in their first 24 games, the arrival of Axel Disasi (£4.5m) has suddenly sparked three in the latest five. No other team has this many since Gameweek 25 got underway.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s lot needed to earn this one, though. Josh King‘s (£4.4m) chance in first-half stoppage time forced one of five Mads Hermansen (£4.2m) saves. The Dane brilliantly stopped a low Timothy Castagne (£4.3m) volley at the end, too.
Interestingly, West Ham have allowed lots of attempts (68) and shots on target (23) over these five, while only conceding the joint-fewest big chances (five, see image above).
